Honoring the Fallen

April 24, 2007 — -- It's been impressive and inspirational to drive through cities and towns and see so many American flags flown at half-staff.

From car dealers to private residences, everyone seems to be sharing in the grief that the United States is feeling over the senseless horror at Virginia Tech last week.

But a U.S. Army sergeant in Afghanistan has asked a perfectly reasonable question: Why do we lower flags for a national catastrophe like a mass shooting on a college campus when we fail to do so for the ongoing casualties in the war on terror?

Sgt. Jim Wilt wrote an opinion piece that was recently published. In the article, he argues that failing to lower the flag at half-staff for deceased men and women who died serving their country means that America has lost the "shock value" of servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I suppose he's made a decent observation. In fact, he's probably right on the money. Let's face it: Are we really "shocked" at hearing about the latest fresh-faced young soldier who has been killed by a sniper or roadside bomb?

No, the shock of members of the U.S. military who have been wounded or killed in battle has certainly worn off. We mourn, we grieve, we honor their service, but we're not surprised anymore.

Maybe we never were.

But we certainly feel profound and unexpected sorrow when 32 college students and professors, just trying to start up a typical school day on a sleepy college campus in Blacksburg, Va., come face to face with an evil gunman.

While stories of heroism and bravery abound from the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan, nobody expects tales of life and death courage in a history class. And yet that's exactly what happened, from the resident adviser who was awakened from his sleep by gunshots and who tried to stop Seung-Hui Cho from carrying out his rampage only to be shot to death, to the Holocaust survivor who tried his best to lean his body up against the door so that his students could escape through the windows, shot dead when the monster finally forced his way in.

Mike Gallagher is a national syndicated talk radio host and a contributing editor for Townhall.com. His Web site is http://www.mikeonline.com.