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By Tom Boggs

As this column comes out two days past Memorial Day, 2025, I was just thinking how few of us are still around who can remember hearing grown folks talking about people they knew who had just been killed in action during World War II. I wrote a column with many of those actual names and circumstances many years ago. Wish I could find it. Maybe I will.

As my avid readers know, when I talk about actual heroes who perished during that great war, I usually come around to Captain Claude Wallace, who married my cousin, Bea Ballow. Claude was last seen by me and my family next door to us at his mama in law’s housebefore he shipped out for overseas. He was last seen by the men he commanded in the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of Bastogne telling his troops to retreat, while he stood in the gap against oncoming German soldiers and tanks. He was never seen again.

In my lifelong studies of warfare, it has been amazing at the number of men who have fallen in battle, but of interest to me is really the small number of Americans who have actually been killed in combat compared to other countries such as Russia and Germany and Japan during World War II. Of course, one fallen comrade is one too many.

America lost 291,557 troops during World War II, but listen to this: There were 8.7 million Russian soldiers killed, 5.3 million Germans and 2.1 million Japanese.

We then look a little further ahead, and see where the United States combat death toll during the Korean War was 33,739 compared to the toll during the long Vietnam war with 58,220 Americans gone. The long, drawn out combat situation in Afghanistan costs 2,420 American lives, but then it bears repeating that one fallen comrade is one too many.

Folks usually remember to thank men and women they know served in uniform for America, but a little harder to reflect on those Americans who died for this country, so for just about a minute here as you read this column of gone bye days, let’s pause, and if we can think of names of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and coast guardsmen who have perished in the line of duty, let’s remember them and their families, but if you cannot think of one, then just simply stop and thank God for the sacrifice of the many, and ask Him to protect our defenders who still may be sent into harm’s way. ATTENTION! HAND SALUTE!

Tom Boggs is a columnist for the Demopolis Times and a native of Marengo County. His column, “Days Gone Bye,” appears weekly.