Left of the Dial

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Kurt R. Curtiss, 27, of Murray, Utah; staff sergeant, Army. Curtiss was shot and killed Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, southwest of Kabul, as his unit supported Afghan security forces during an enemy attack. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.

Joseph D. Fortin, 22, of St. Johnsbury, Vt.; second lieutenant, Army. Fortin was killed Aug. 23 when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Muhallah, Iraq, south of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

John L. Hallett III, 30, of Concord, Calif.; captain, Army. Hallett was among four soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Donald J. Hogan, 20, of San Clemente; corporal, Marine Corps. Hogan was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near him while his unit was on foot patrol in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. 

Matthew L. Ingram, 25, of Pearl, Miss.; sergeant, Army. Ingram was killed Aug. 21 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle and his unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Cory J. Jenkins, 30, of Mesa, Ariz.; captain, Army. Jenkins was among four soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Andrew T. Lobosco, 29, of Somerville, N.J.; staff sergeant, Army. Lobosco was killed Aug. 22 when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire while on foot patrol in Yakhchal in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Taylor D. Marks, 19, of Monmouth, Ore.; private, Army National Guard. Marks was one of two guardsmen killed Friday when insurgents attacked a convoy they were guarding in eastern Baghdad with an explosively formed penetrator -- an armor-piercing explosive that turns into a projectile when detonated. He was assigned to the 41st Special Troops Battalion, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Portland, Ore.

Darby T. Morin, 25, of Victoria, Canada; corporal, Army. Morin was killed Aug. 22 when his vehicle overturned in central Afghanistan's Logar province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y. 

Ronald W. Sawyer, 38, of Trenton, Mo.; sergeant first class, Army. Sawyer was among four soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Troy O. Tom, 21, of Shiprock, N.M.; specialist, Army. Tom was one of two soldiers killed Aug. 18 when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Arghandab in southwest Afghanistan's Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Earl D. Werner, 38, of Mondovi, Wis.; sergeant, Army National Guard. Werner was one of two guardsmen killed Friday when insurgents attacked a convoy they were guarding in eastern Baghdad with an explosively formed penetrator -- an armor-piercing explosive that turns into a projectile when detonated. He was assigned to the 41st Special Troops Battalion, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Portland, Ore.

Matthew E. Wildes, 18, of Hammond, La.; private first class, Army. Wildes was killed Thursday when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Dennis M. Williams, 24, of Federal Way, Wash.; private first class, Army. Williams was among four soldiers killed Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in southern Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Jonathan C. Yanney, 20, of Litchfield, Minn.; private first class, Army. Yanney was one of two soldiers killed Aug. 18 when a roadside bomb exploded near them in Arghandab in southwest Afghanistan's Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Ft. Lewis, Wash.

Blunt Lies about Health Care

So. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) said recently: 

"I'm 59. In either Canada or Great Britain, if I broke my hip, I couldn't get it replaced."

This is what's known in polite society as "untrue." It is also what's known as "absurd." How absurd? 

Glad you asked. This absurd:

At least 63 percent of hip replacements performed in Canada last year and two-thirds of those done in England were on patients age 65 or older. More than 1,200 in Canada were done on people older than 85.

It is so absurd, in fact, that it makes one wonder whether the speaker is an idiot or a liar. I mean, here's the thing: he's a United State senator who's been studying health care. A U.S. senator making a statement like that is assumed to have some idea what he's talking about. When he's that wrong? It's either remarkable incompetence or outright lying. 

Rescission

A follow-up to yesterday's post: 

The way insurance companies make a profit is by accepting the money you or your company pays them for your policy, and then denying you care when you actually need it. This is understandable, from a business point of view. It is of course inhuman, from a moral point of view. 

They've perfect many forms of this horrific practice, but perhaps the worst of all is rescission. 

Blue Cross of California encouraged employees through performance evaluations to cancel the health insurance policies of individuals with expensive illnesses, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) charged at the start of a congressional hearing today on the controversial practice known as rescission.

[...] one Blue Cross employee earned a perfect score of "5" for "exceptional performance" on an evaluation that noted the employee's role in dropping thousands of policyholders and avoiding nearly $10 million worth of medical care.

WellPoint's Blue Cross of California subsidiary and two other insurers saved more than $300 million in medical claims by canceling more than 20,000 sick policyholders over a five-year period, the House committee said.

"When times are good, the insurance company is happy to sign you up and take your money in the form of premiums," Stupak said. "But when times are bad, and you are afflicted with cancer or some other life-threatening disease, it is supposed to honor its commitments and stand by you in your time of need.

"Instead, some insurance companies use a technicality to justify breaking its promise, at a time when most patients are too weak to fight back," he said.

The committee investigation uncovered several rescission practices that one lawmaker called egregious, including targeting every policyholder diagnosed with leukemia, breast cancer and 1,400 other serious illnesses. Such investigations involve scouring the policyholder's original application and years' worth of medical and pharmacy records in search of any discrepancies.

In November 2007, The Times reported that insurer Health Net Inc. paid bonuses to employees based in part on their involvement in rescinding policyholders. According to internal corporate documents disclosed through litigation, Health Net saved $35 million over six years by rescinding policyholders. The disclosures were part of the evidence that led a private arbitration judge to levy $9 million in damages against Health Net in a case involving the company's rescission of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer.

You want to talk about death panels? There's your death panel, right there. The difference is, this one is real. And it's the way the system is designed. 

A Quick Health Care Reminder

Just because it's a central fact and it sometimes gets obscured:

The way insurance companies make money is by accepting your money and then denying you care. The more care they can deny, the less they have to pay doctors and hospitals, the more money they make. 

A health insurance company's business plan is set up to figure out a way to not actually pay for any care you might need. 

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel who died in Afghanistan and Kuwait or at a U.S. military hospital:

Dennis J. Burrow, 23, of Naples, Fla.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Burrow was killed in combat Aug. 7 in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

William J. Cahir, 40, of Washington, D.C.; sergeant, Marine Corps Reserve. Cahir was killed in combat Thursday in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 4th Civil Affairs Group in Washington.

Jerry R. Evans Jr., 23, of Eufaula, Ala.; sergeant, Army. Evans was killed Aug. 7 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in central Afghanistan's Wardak province, west of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Bruce E. Ferrell, 21, of Perdido, Ala.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Ferrell was killed Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near him in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Matthew C. Freeman, 29, of Richmond Hill, Ga.; captain, Marine Corps. Freeman was killed in combat Aug. 7 in central Afghanistan's Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul. He was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan.

Javier Olvera, 20, of Palmdale; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Olvera was killed in combat Aug. 8 in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Patrick W. Schimmel, 21, of Winfield, Mo.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Schimmel was killed in combat Aug. 9 in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Tara J. Smith, 33, of Nashville, N.C.; staff sergeant, Army. Smith died Aug. 8 in Bagram, Afghanistan, of noncombat-related injuries suffered Aug. 4 at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. She was assigned to the 50th Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Matthew K.S. Swanson, 20, of Lake Forest; specialist, Army. Swanson died Aug. 8 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., of injuries suffered July 19 during a vehicle rollover in central Afghanistan's Logar province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

John Tinsley, 28, of Tallahassee, Fla.; captain, Army. Tinsley was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Richard A. Walters Jr., 41, of Cleveland; specialist, Army. Walters died of noncombat-related injuries Mondayin Ali al Salem, Kuwait, where he was serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to the 14th Combat Support Hospital at Ft. Benning, Ga.

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a military hospital of their injuries:

James D. Argentine, 22, of Farmingdale, N.Y.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Argentine was among four Marines killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Travis T. Babine, 20, of San Antonio; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Babine was among four Marines killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Patrick S. Fitzgibbon, 19, of Knoxville, Tenn.; private, Army. Fitzgibbon was among three soldiers killed Aug. 1 when their patrol unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in southwest Afghanistan's Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Anthony C. Garcia, 21, of Tyndall, Fla.; petty officer third class, Navy. Garcia was killed in combat Wednesday in Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was a hospital corpsman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Alejandro Granado, 42, of Fairfax, Va.; sergeant first class, Army National Guard. Granado was among three guardsmen killed Aug. 2 when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan's Wardak province, west of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Jackson, Miss. 

Christian A. Guzman Rivera, 21, of Homestead, Fla.; corporal, Marine Corps. Guzman Rivera was among four Marines killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan.

Jay M. Hoskins, 24, of Paris, Texas; sergeant, Marine Corps. Hoskins was among four Marines killed Thursday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan's Farah province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Richard K. Jones, 21, of Person, N.C.; private first class, Army. Jones was among three soldiers killed Aug. 1 when their patrol unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in southwest Afghanistan's Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Ronald G. Luce Jr., 27, of Fayetteville, N.C.; captain, Army National Guard. Luce was among three guardsmen killed Aug. 2 when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan's Wardak province, west of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Jackson, Miss. 

Alexander J. Miller, 21, of Clermont, Fla.; specialist, Army. Miller was killed July 31 when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum. N.Y.

Severin W. Summers III, 43, of Bentonia, Miss.; sergeant first class, Army National Guard. Summers was among three guardsmen killed Aug. 2 when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb and their unit was then attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan's Wardak province, west of Kabul. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Jackson, Miss. 

Johnny R. Polk, 39, of Gulfport, Miss.; staff sergeant, Army. Polk died July 25 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries suffered July 23 when his vehicle was struck by an anti-tank grenade in Kirkuk, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

Jonathan M. Walls, 27, of West Lawn, Pa.; corporal, Army. Walls was among three soldiers killed Aug. 1 when their patrol unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in southwest Afghanistan's Kandahar province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colo.

Keiffer P. Wilhelm, 19, of Plymouth, Ohio; private, Army. Wilhelm died of noncombat-related injuries Tuesday in southern Iraq's Maysan province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 13th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

Pre-existing Conditions

Such as, say, living. 

So. Sarah Palin wrote recently: 

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

As someone who has spent an unusual amount of time dealing with insurance companies—although only the smallest fraction of the time Top Management has spent—I couldn't agree more. Such a system is indeed downright evil. 

Where the former governor is confused on this point, however, is this: that's the system we have currently.

Palin is sort of right on one point -- there are people who weigh whether children like Trig are worthy of insurance.  They're called insurance companies, and they have decided that these children are not in fact worthy of coverage.  That's because Down Syndrome is a "pre-existing condition." 

In other words, if Palin didn't have insurance through her husband's job—I assume she's no longer on the state's insurance plan, as of a few weeks ago—and tried to land it through the private market, she would not be able to get health insurance. Because of Trig. Because that's the way the invisible hand of the market works; after all, kids with Down's Syndrome are wicked expensive, and it doesn't make even a shred of sense, from a business point of view, to insure such children. So insurance companies don't. Which means the kids and their families are utterly screwed. Unless the government steps in, and either forces the insurance companies to cover such individuals, or the government covers them themselves. 

Margaret Demko, the mother of three-year-old Emily, testified before the Ohio Finance Committee on February 27, 2008, on how waiting for health care coverage has impacted Emily and her future. Emily was born with Down Syndrome. After receiving Emily's diagnosis, the family decided that it was important for Margaret to stay home in order to best meet the needs of their child. They explored numerous options after losing their employer-sponsored coverage, but due to Emily's pre-existing condition, the Demkos were denied private coverage. Luckily, they qualified for Medicaid. However, by their 6-month reauthorization meeting, the monthly family income was $135 over the allowable limits.

The medical bills, in excess of $3,500 a month, were devastating, forcing the family to make difficult decisions regarding therapy. Emily's medical condition requires orthotic shoe inserts, physical therapy, and corrective eye treatments, as well as hearing and blood tests. The Demkos cannot afford to incur all the expenses at once. 

So. We sort of need to ask ourselves some basic but hard questions: do we care about children with Down's Syndrome if they're not ours? Do we feel like paying a few extra bucks per year so a family a few thousand miles away we don't even know can get their kid the therapy he or she needs? Is it, in fact, in our best interest as a society to help each and every member of that society reach his or her full potential? Does our self-interest dictate that in the long run this is to our own benefit? And is it simply the moral thing to do? And, in either case, are we willing to pay for it? And, if so, how much? 

These are tough questions, and they're not really getting discussed. Because people with billions of dollars are paying other people to go to town halls to gin up false outrage over absurdities like "death panels," rather than get to the heart of the matter: do we believe we should continue to be the only industrialized nation without universal health care? Do we believe that children like Emily Demko should be on her own, left to sink or swim? Is that the right thing to do? Is it the smart thing to do? 

I suppose I should mention that there's at least one other problem with Palin's statement, and that's the fact that it's a lie. There will be no "death panel" under any health care plan passed this year. One has never been proposed and one never will be proposed. For a high-ranking politician, even a former one such as the former governor, to make such a statement is simply absurd. There are two choices: stunning ignorance or simple lying. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she's lying. That's actually the more generous of the two options. 

Wait Times

So I heard some one yell about wait times the other day. And I thought, "...really? That talking point? Still?"

Every time I've tried to make an appointment with a doctor in the past decade, I've had to wait at least a week and more often up to a few months. And specialists? Please. I had a dermatologist tell me that it'd be six months before they could get me in. 

It's not so much the oddness of the long wait times—though it is that as well—as the total disconnect between the reality I've observed and the stuff I've heard spewed. Which is what I thought when I read this from James Fallows, an Atlantic Monthly writer who just returned to the States after three years living in China. 

I think the US consumer economy would still be in free-fall if we hadn't come back. We show up from China needing new of everything. Clothes. Camera. Two computers, plus monitors and backup drives. Housewares. Shoes. At least one fridge, probably a stove. Radios/sound system. TVs. You name the item, and the version we have is road-worn, obsolete, broken, or gone. (Sadly for Detroit, not cars: Our two, vintage 1999 and 2000 respectively and stored with friends, still seem just fine. Sorry!) Our house needs to be repainted-- and re-roofed, and re-drivewayed, and its trees trimmed. That's just a start. Good thing we saved up in those days of 20RMB noodle/dumpling dinners. And, yes, many of the items we're getting were made in China. You just can't buy them there.

Here's the surprise: We call to get service appointments, and people show up right away. Air conditioning not working in 90-degree DC swelter? We make a call one evening, and the next day it's all fixed. Plumbing clogged and leaky? A few hours later, it's not. Need the car looked at, after three years in the shed? Call the service place and the only question is: do I want to bring it in this afternoon? Or wait till tomorrow? On a Sunday, we see that a tree is dying in the back yard. By Monday afternoon, it is converted into neatly stacked wood.

These are all people and services we'd dealt with before, but in those days we learned to plan weeks in advance for service calls. America still looks incredibly rich and lush. But this little indicator suggests lots of slack in anything considered a discretionary purchase. Not startling in principle, but impressive to encounter first-hand.

Only exception: I call to get an appointment for a physical exam with our doctor -- a good but "normal" doctor, not some fancy physician to the stars. First available slot, mid-November. I have no theory for this anomaly.

So. We have wait times. It's similar to the way folks are still using the "if you like the post office, just wait until the goverment takes over all health care!" line. Because apparently polls show people really like the postal service. 

And with good reason. It's cheap and efficient and reliable. And the tunes? Fugheddabout!

Peace, Love & Understanding

Ah, time. It makes young punks (well, sorta) old but, hopefully, wiser. 

I don't know about that, but I do know that the quiet assurance and mastery on display here is a thing to behold. The harmony Elvis adds on the word "harmony" is gorgeous and unexpected. And a Gibson Explorer acoustic? And the impossibly great James Burton on electric guitar? And Nick Lowe's totally awesome hair? How great is this?  

Blues and country have long had great esteem for its elder statesmen, giving them major props for continuing and upholding the tradition, even when they were long past the point of breaking new ground or adding major new works. Rock didn't have that, not for a long time. For one thing, its earliest major figures either died or left the business or went to jail. (Yes, I'm oversimplifying.) It's really only been in the past 15 years that we've had rock and rollers grow up and get undeniably middle-aged or older and had some—most prominently Dylan and Springsteen—produce works commensurate with their years and if not as great as their very best work, at least able to stand alongside it proudly. 

I can't help but notice that where it used to be assumed that this song was tongue-in-cheek and widely misinterpreted, these guys now appear to singing it absolutely straightforward. Was the common perception that it was commonly misperceived mistaken? Or has time, which Lowe once claimed wounds all heels, simply changed their outlook? 

In Memoriam

The Defense Department last week identified the following American military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq or who died at a U.S. hospital:

Herberth A. Berrios-Campos, 21, of Bealeton, Va.; specialist, Army. Berrios-Campos died of noncombat-related injuries July 24 in Salman Pak, Iraq, southeast of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Andrew Scott Charpentier, 21, of Great Falls, Mont.; airman, Navy. Charpentier died July 23 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami from a noncombat-related illness that he contracted while assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Justin D. Coleman, 21, of Spring Hill, Fla.; specialist, Army. Coleman was killed July 24 when his unit was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y.

Gregory A. Posey, 22, of Knoxville, Tenn.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Posey was one of two Marines killed Thursday in a firefight while their unit was on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Gerrick D. Smith, 19, of Sullivan, Ill.; private, Army National Guard. Smith died of noncombat-related injuries Wednesday in western Afghanistan's Herat province, on the Iranian border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment in Marion, Ill.

Jonathan F. Stroud, 20, of Cashion, Okla.; lance corporal, Marine Corps. Stroud was one of two Marines killed Thursday in a firefight while their unit was on foot patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Donald W. Vincent, 26, of Gainesville, Fla.; private first class, Marine Corps. Vincent was killed in combat July 25 in Afghanistan's Helmand province, on the Pakistani border. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Douglas M. Vose III, 38, of Concrete, Wash.; chief warrant officer, Army. Vose was killed Wednesday when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire in central Afghanistan's Kabul province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group in Stuttgart, Germany.