Contractor Casualty Statistics
The Department of Labor Defense Base Act Claims Cumulative Report By Employer
From 09/01/2001 to 09/30/2011
Killed: 2,871 (DEA)
Wounded: 74,571 (NLT, LTO, LT4)
Companies: 1936
Today, there is much attention, respect and remembrance for military veterans of war across the world. And they deserve that. But what is not heard or given thought to, is the great amount of sacrifice, contribution, and heroism given by our civilian veterans around the world during times of war.
Now personally, I am a military veteran and war veteran, but I am also a civilian veteran whom has worked extensively in the war. I have also lost co-workers in this war as a civilian veteran, and those losses and their sacrifice will never be forgotten to me. It is the same for all civilian veterans whom have worked in the war zones and lost friends and co-workers. On Memorial Day, and days like this, contractors all go through the same process mentally of recognizing our military veterans, but also recognizing the work of their fellow contractors in this war.
And one of the more interesting facts of the war is that there are a percentage of contractors that are not military veterans at all. Danger Zone Jobs was able to get a statistic about such a thing. Out of the group of contractors polled in their survey, 37.3% of them did not have any prior military service. Now how closely this matches the overall contractor history in this industry, is up for debate.
The other data point of interest, that no one has really been able to figure out, is how many civilian have served in the war over the last ten years. Although it would be safe to say that those numbers probably match that of the military. The current numbers of contractors in the war zones are at about 175,000. So that is 175,000 folks that deserve our thanks for stepping up and serving in the war zone, despite the dangers and hardships. That is also 175,000 civilian veterans that have friends and families, all praying for their safety every day. Wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons–all proud and supportive of their loved one’s service in the war. And they should be.
Not to mention all of the civilian veterans out there that have been wounded, and some grievously. It troubles me that my nation, or any nation out there, is not taking the time to recognize the service of these civilian veterans that I speak of.
I am here to give thanks to our military veterans. But on this day, I will also recognize our civilian veterans, and that is the least I can do. –Matt
Ed Stiles, 91, said better pay and the whiff of possible adventure prompted him to overlook the risks of volunteering for combat duty with the famed Flying Tigers of World War II.
BALAD, IRAQ. An Australian doctor in the Balad Air Force base in Iraq photographs United States private contractor Jake Guevara. Insurgents ambushed Guevara, along with his team, when they went to pick up people from the embassy, and one of his team was shot and killed instantly. Hundreds of wounded soldiers have come through the military hospital for emergency treatment since the siege of Falujah began in early November.
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day and Veterans Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice (“at the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.)
The day was specifically dedicated by King George V on 7 November 1919 as a day of remembrance of members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I. This was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.
The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.