If you don't count babysitting, which for two years before I got a real job helped my family to put food on the table, I've been working for 33 of my 49 years. Include babysitting, which paid better than my first real job, and it goes to 36 of my 49 years. My family of origin was blue collar and the work ethic was passed down as if it were a dominant genetic trait, much like my brown eyes. I don't recall a time in my childhood when my Dad worked only one job; My Mom always worked, too. It was the 1960s and I thought only fictional Moms, like TV's Donna Reed, stayed home during the day; I was shocked in elementary school to find out many of my friends had mothers who didn’t have paid jobs.

I grew up believing if you don't work, you don't eat and that education was going to be my ticket to an easier life.

I never considered not going to college, even though I would be the first person on my Mom's side of the family to do so; everything I imagined doing with my life started with an education. And when I got my first salaried job after college I just knew I’d be set for life.

On cnn.com yesterday morning, this headline caught my attention:

Study: Single parents cost taxpayers $112 billion

The article begins:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Divorce and out-of-wedlock childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers more than $112 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by four groups advocating more government action to bolster marriages.

Although substantially less than the $237 billion the U.S. treasury spent for interest on debt in 2007, and far less than the $173.6 billion the federal government spent in 2007 on the "global war on terror," (source) $112 billion a year is a lot of money. As a taxpayer and a single mother, I wanted to know more.

I fully expect to hear the conclusion of this study repeated by the media as if it were scientific fact. It clearly is not and if you'll join me below I'll tell you what I learned.

Thirty two years ago a baby boy named Alfred was born; five days ago, while on patrol in Iraq, he was killed by an IED.

Twenty six years ago a baby boy named Melvin was born; four days ago, while serving the U.S. Army in his second deployment to Iraq, he died from a bullet wound to the head.

Today the families of Sgt. Alfred G. Paredez, Jr. and Spc. Melvin L. Henley, Jr. mourn the loss of these men and seek comfort in the memories of the babies, boys, teens, and young men they loved and lost far too soon.

He served in the Army for twenty years, following his high school graduation in 1973 until his honorable discharge in 1998, and then later in the National Guard until his death from an IED on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, in Bayji, Iraq.

Please join me below to learn more about Staff Sgt. Robin L. Towns Sr., a brave American who gave twenty years - and his life - in service to his country.

It is, quite honestly, impossible to properly honor the lives of our fallen military men and women.  No article, poem, picture, or tribute can ever really capture the whole person that each was in life, how important each was to his or her family, friends, community, company.  But we try, still, because for all that these brave men and women have given, it is the very least that we can do.  Today, especially, it feels inadequate.  Our personal sacrifice of a bit of time, a bit of effort, and a trail of tears falls far short of the sacrifice given by our country’s best and brightest.

Yet it is something, a little energy burst into the universe to remind us all that these people mattered, they made a difference, and the world will not be the same without them.  Today I ask you to join me in remembering four shining stars, four American heroes who gave their lives in service to our country. Please join me in remembering

Staff Sgt. Eric T. Duckworth, 26, of Plano, Texas
Staff Sgt. Lillian Clamens, 35, of Lawton, Oklahoma
Spc. Samuel F. Pearson, 28, of Westerville, Ohio
Staff Sgt. Donald L. Munn II, 25, of Saint Clairs Shores, Michigan

So far this month there have been 28 DoD Casualty accouncements, many of them for two or more of our fallen heroes. Just yesterday two beautiful diaries, They Shall Not Grow Old (Part 1) by noweasels and They Shall Not Grow Old (Part 2) by joyful were posted here, introducing us to seven of the latest heroes to give their lives in the Iraq occupation.

Today is my day to write the IGTNT diary and I have been given a gift of sorts: no new deaths were announced yesterday; all deaths that have been announced to date have already been diaried here in the IGTNT (I Got The News Today) series.

But the fact that there's no news (as in no new DoD announcements) is far from good news.

John Tully, father of fallen Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Michael Tully, said it better than I ever could:

"I want to make sure that my son is remembered," he said. "These young boys and girls are giving their all for our country, for you and for me, and people shouldn’t forget that." (source)

Follow me below the fold to honor the lives of three heroes who died while serving their country:

Sgt 1st Class Michael J. Tully and Sgt. 1st Class Adrian M. Elizalde, who died August 23 in Baghdad of wounds from an IED, and Sgt. 1st Class David A. Heringes , who died August 24 near Tikrit, also from wounds from an IED.

When it comes to the lives lost in Iraq, I prefer to think and write about the people instead of the numbers. As the occupation of Iraq by the nation I call home continues, however, the numbers keep growing and they can't be ignored.

According to Iraq Coalition Casualties there have been 3689 Military fatalities in Iraq as of this morning, including 9 whose names have not yet been announced.  Let that number sink in: three thousand six hundred eighty nine.

That's three thousand six hundred eighty nine sons or daughters. That's thousands of parents, brothers or sisters, uncles or aunts, husbands or wives, neighbors, friends, co-workers, and team mates.

Tonight I ask you to join me in tribute to two brave young men who died while serving their country in Iraq.  Army Specialist Donald M. Young and Marine Corporal Reynold Armand made the ultimate sacrifice this week, leaving behind shattered and angry loved ones.

Tonight I ask you to join me in paying tribute to three young soldiers whose lives were brutally cut short this week while serving their country. Tuesday morning, in Baghdad, soldiers of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team were on patrol in a Stryker personnel carrier when they were hit by an improvised explosive device that pierced the 45,000-pound vehicle's armor. Spc. Zachariah J. Gonzalez, 23, of Indiana, Pfc. Charles T. Heinlein Jr., 23, of Hemlock, Michigan, and Pfc. Alfred H. Jairala, 29, of Hialeah, Florida were killed in the explosion.

Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

< snip >

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter - "One Tin Soldier"

A mother always tries her best to keep her promises to her children.  Sometimes it's not hard, like a promise to let a new driver take the wheel on a long trip, or a promised sleep-over party when the mother really would rather have a quiet house.  Sometimes keeping the promise is very difficult.  Such is the case quoted in this diary title: a soldier's mother tries to be strong in the face of extreme loss and grief because that's what she promised her son.

Military service isn't for everyone. It requires dedication, sacrifice, a respect for duty and discipline, and a willingness to put one's own needs, desires, comfort and safety on the line to defend an ideal even if the orders one must follow do not make sense, even when it seems a mission is flawed. In combat, even on the best of days, it's a challenge.

Tonight we remember two young men who met the challenge, two young men who put their own comfort and safety at risk, out of dedication to the ideals upon which this country was founded.

Last July 4th was my first parade in a very long time, attended only because my youngest son was going to be participating.  It was a strange experience and I wrote about it in another on-line community.

I'm reposting it below because most of it still fits.

The Valencia County News-Bulletin.com headline read "Los Lunas soldier's dreams had all been coming true."  But the story that follows tells of shattered dreams.

But the 21-year old Los Lunas resident and Los Lunas High School graduate was killed Saturday, June 23, when his unit came under small-arms fire while on patrol in south Baghdad — one of seven U. S. soldiers to die that Saturday.

Join me below to honor the memories of five young men whose dreams were recently brought to an abrupt and brutal end in service to the country they loved.

In his song "Time in a Bottle" Jim Croce sang:

There never seems to be enough time
to do the things you want to do
once you've found them.

The loss of a loved one, especially one in the early years of their adulthood, is a grim reminder of just how true those words are.  For the families and friends of Pfc. Justin A. Verdeja, Sgt. Kimel L. Watt, Sgt. Matthew Soper, Pfc. Timothy R. Vimoto, and Senior Airman William N. Newman, the truth of how short time can be has been painfully demonstrated this week.

Yesterday two more families were notified that a beloved family member was killed in the line of duty in Iraq.  

Isaoshy Uruo said he just couldn't bear to hear the details of his son's death, which marks the 21st casualty for the Micronesia region in the ongoing war on terror.

"All I remember hearing them say was, 'Sorry, we understand how you feel,'" Isaoshy Uruo said yesterday as he held his head and rubbed his eyes.

Isaoshy Uruo is the father of 28 year old Army Sgt. Iosiwo Uruo, who was killed in Iraq this week.  

At the Zylman home yesterday, people from all over Coleman dropped by to pay their respects and remember a young man so many saw as a budding leader.

Friends also frequented his my space.com Web page, posting thoughts, condolences and memories.

"They're all just devastated. It's tough," said Randy Zylman. "We're all still kind of in a daze."

Randy Zylman is the father of 22 year old Pfc. Casey P. Zylman, who was killed in Iraq this week.

Yesterday a family got news that will forever change them: a beloved family member, a man not yet old enough to order a beer, was killed in the line of duty in Baghdad.  The fabric of this family has been forever torn.

Eleven additional families will be notified today or tomorrow that their loved ones have died.  

And still, the wars rage on.