About those sacrifices for U.S. freedom ...

This is an online version of my Sunday, July 4, Gazette column, with links.

The greatest stimulus U.S. newspapers ever had in this nation's history, Michael and Edwin Emery write in their textbook, “The Press and America: An Interpretive History of the Mass Media,” was the political tension leading to the Revolutionary War.

Newspapers in the 1700s, like those today, thrived on controversy, the Emerys – Michael was Edwin's son – wrote in their well used textbook. Those running the presses were aggressive in the public discourse about whether the colonies should be free from English rule.

Engaging in that discourse was not an easy task. Government leaders, either working directly for the British crown or locally with the crown's backing, threatened those writing in opposition to government policies with punishments ranging from financial ruin to imprisonment. Censorship was the norm; Sweden had become the first country to ban censorship but that happened only as recently, in colonial times, as 1766.

Yet, a free press prevailed. The free flow of information emerged stronger than ever from the Revolutionary War. “Almost forgotten today are the battles and sacrifices by which this concept won general acceptance,” the Emerys wrote.

That is worth noting on this nation's 234cherished right in this country. If you don't think so consider this: 70 journalists were killed in other parts of the world doing their jobs in 2009, the worst in the 30 years records have been kept on this matter, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports. About 150 are in jail across the world, 60 of them in Iran, the committee reports. Online journalists have the highest risks.

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birthday. A free press is a

Fact is, though, people from all walks of life have sacrificed during those years to maintain U.S. freedoms. No sacrifice has exceeded that of someone's life.

Nearly 1.01 million Americans in uniform have died in all of the wars the United States has fought in since the Revolutionary War of 1775-1783. That includes more than 4,400 in the Iraqi war and almost 1,140 in the Operation Enduring Freedom mission that includes Afghanistan, U.S. Department of Defense figures at the beginning of this month show.

The number is close to 1.17 million military deaths when you include estimates for those killed fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War, defense department figures indicate. You add more U.S. military deaths to the count when you include operations such as the Iranian hostage rescue mission in 1980, which took eight lives; terrorist attacks on U.S. soldiers in Lebanon from August 1982 to February 1984 that took 265 lives; and the 1983 invasion of Grenada that took 18 lives.

Another 1.6 million American soldiers show up as injured in these wars when you add the defense department's figures.

Reporter Orlan Love has a strong report for the cover of the July 4 Gazette on the sense of duty and honor that leads service men and women to enter the military. The story's statistics may startle you. For certain, the personal testimonies should move you.

Orlan interviewed several veterans and current day soldiers for the story. Their comments are worth reflection.

“I just wanted to serve my country, sir,” Pvt. William Wessely, a 22-year-old Iowa National Guard 1-133

Short and to the point.

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Infantry Battalion soldier from Waterloo, tells Orlan in simple terms for the story. “We have rights and freedoms that are worth protecting.”