A Death In Vain?

Over the coming weeks we will be seeing more and more photos like this:

A horsedrawn caisson carries the body of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Buesing, 20, to the Cedar Key Cemetery, during funeral services in Cedar Key, Florida April 5, 2003. Buesing was one of nine Marines who died in a confrontation with Iraqi troops near Nassiriya March 23. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

The worst death is one that is in vain. So what will Lance Cpl. Buesing and his comrades have paid the ultimate sacrifice for?

For scenes of goodness:

Iraqi men crush together as try to grab food packages handed out by British troops in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan March 31, 2003. Badly needed food, water and other humanitarian aid has begun flowing into southern Iraq through the secure port of Umm Qasar where a U.N. and World Food Program team arrived on April 4, the U.S. military said. (Russell Boyce/Reuters)

And

I lost the caption to this one, but basically it is a child just outside of Halabja- a much different scene than the one in 1988 when we saw children murdered with poison gas. The photo is either Reuters or AP and was taken, I believe on 4/2/03.

To avoid more scenes like this from ever occurring:

Human remains, along with coffins and photos of dead bodies, are seen at an abandoned Iraqi base near the city of Basra in southern Iraq, April 5, 2003. British forces said they had found the remains of as many as 200 people in the barracks and they were sending in forensic experts to investigate. (Pool/Reuters)

No amount of goodness will ever bring Lance Cpl. Buesing back. His parents will forever have to live knowing their child’s life was cut short in its prime. We will never know what good he could have brought to the world, but we know what he has helped to bring to a people on the far side of the world. His actions in life helped to bring hope for a better future to the people of Iraq. His death was not in vain.

Someone once told me that immortality isn’t achieved through long life, monumentous accomplishment, or amassing of money or materials. Immortality is achieved by influencing the lives of others. Immortality is achieved by touching the lives of others so that you live on in their memory long after you are dead and gone.

The Lance Cpl. has touched the lives of ordinary Iraqis. His death has been part of the sacrifice to free them from the oppression of Saddam’s regime. They may never know his name or anything about Lance Cpl. Brian Buesing, but they will know that America and the Marine Corps was willing to sacrifice its best for their benefit.

His death was not in vain.