The story behind one tragedy

The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic — Joseph Stalin

On November 29, 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense quietly announced the death of Sgt. 1st Class John J. Tobiason, 42, of Bloomington, Minn. Sgt. Tobiason died in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered from hostile fire - small arms fire. He was assigned to the 847th Adjutant General Battalion, 89th Regional Readiness Command, Wichita, Kan.

Tobiason was scheduled to come home to Minnesota in January. Instead, family and friends are grieving while remembering their loved one.

“He was a master of using the ‘x’ in Scrabble,” said his sister. He “was known for his passion for drumming, fishing, and games and puzzles.”

“He was quite a guy,” said American Legion Commander Dennis Lindquist. “He was just so darn proud to carry the flag.”

Tobiason's sister told the local newspaper that her brother was in his 14th year in the military and had planned to serve 20 years before retiring to a cabin in Minnesota. Instead, funeral services will be held later this week for Sgt. Tobiason.

As of today, there have been 3,882 confirmed deaths of American soldiers in Iraq since 2003. It is important that we remember the face behind each one of these 3,882. I'll be regularly publishing the stories of some of these brave men and women who have lost their lives because they were fulfilling their duty to enact the policies of the Bush Administration and because of the lack of fortitude of the Democratic majority to stand up to these policies.

Please continue to contact your Senators and Representatives and demand that they stop funding the Iraq War.