Quote Of The Day: Let's Have A Wake Edition

"I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.)"
-- Maj. Andy Olmsted

G'kar to the readers of Obsidian Wings, Maj. Olmsted was a virtual friend, a poster from Iraq, an insightful man cut from a different, tough and resilient cloth.

He's gone now, killed yesterday in Iraq. Some time back he sent a post to hilzoy, the keeper of Obsidian Wings -- one of those "open if I die" things -- and hilzoy has posted it. It is wonderful, beautiful. Read the whole thing.

We talk of the human loss of the war in Iraq. Reading this piece, you will understand how utterly unquantifiable it is, and if you're a praying person, you will find yourself praying a bit more earnestly for the folks who are over there and their families back here.