Most of all we learned about death at an early age when it is common to think of oneself as immortal. Everyone loses that illusion eventually, but in civilian life it is lost in installments over the years. We lost it all at once and, in the span of months, passed from boyhood through manhood to premature middle age. The knowledge of death, of the implacable limits placed on a man's existence, severed us from our youth as irrevocably as a surgeon's scissors had once severed us from the womb. And yet, few of us were past twenty-five.

— From A Rumor of War, By Philip Caputo

May we continue to remember that there are people dying in the hot, dry sands and dusty streets of Iraq every day. For causes which—out of respect for surviving family and friends, and their potential differences of opinion on the war—won't be discussed or debated here.

Here, we take a moment to consider each of the following eighty-six young men and women who died, as members of the United States Military, in March of 2007. May we linger over their names, their ages (together they average 25 years), where they lived—envisioning what each might have left behind, imagining the dreams that died alongside them.

In Memoriam

Army Pvt. Wesley J. Williams, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Marine Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Gould, 28, of Longmont, Colorado

Army Spc. Christopher D. Young, 20, of Los Angeles, California

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Morgan C. Tulang, 36, of Hilo, Hawaii

Navy Hospitalman Lucas W.A. Emch, 21, of Kent, Ohio

Army Staff Sgt. Paul M. Latourney, 28, of Roselle, Illinois

Army Spc. Luis O. Rodriguez-Contrera, 22, of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Army Sgt. Michael C. Peek, 23, of Chesapeake, Virginia

Army Sgt. Ashly L. Moyer, 21, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Army Sgt. Brandon A. Parr, 25, of West Valley, Utah

Marine Lance Cpl. Raul S. Bravo, 21, of Elko, Nevada

Army Staff Sgt. Darrel D. Kasson, 43, of Florence, Arizona

Army Staff Sgt. Justin M. Estes, 25, of Sims, Arkansas

Army Sgt. Gregory D. Fejeran, 28, of Barrigada, Guam

Army Sgt. Christopher J. C. Fernandez, 28, of Dededo, Guam

Army Staff Sgt. Robert M. Stanley, 27, of Spotsylvania, Virginia

Army Sgt. Andrew C. Perkins, 27, of Northglenn, Colorado

Army Spc. Ryan M. Bell, 21, of Colville, Washington

Army Spc. Justin A. Rollins, 22, of Newport, New Hampshire

Army Pfc. Cory C. Kosters, 19, of The Woodlands, Texas

Army Spc. Blake Harris, 22, of Pueblo, Colorado

Army Pvt. Barry W. Mayo, 21, of Ecru, Mississippi

Army Spc. Ryan D. Russell, 20, of Elm City, North Carolina

Army Pvt. Mark W. Graham, 22, of Lafayette, Louisiana

Army Spc. Shawn P. Rankinen, 28, of Independence, Missouri

Army Spc. Michael D. Rivera, 22, of Brooklyn, New York

Army Staff Sgt. Christopher R. Webb, 28, of Winchester, California

Marine Lance Cpl. Dennis J. Veater, 20, of Jessup, Pa

Army Sgt. Thomas L. Latham, 23, of Delmar, Maryland

Army Sgt. Daniel E. Woodcock, 25, of Glennallen, Alaska

Army Spc. Jonathan K. Smith, 19, of Atlanta, Georgia

Army Sgt. 1st Class Douglas C. Stone, 49, of Taylorsville, Utah

Army Sgt. Robert M. Carr, 22, of Warren, Ohio

Army Pfc. Alberto Garcia Jr., 23, of Bakersfield, California

Marine Lance Cpl. Nathanial D. Windsor, 20, of Scappoose, Oregon

Marine Pfc. Angel Rosa, 21, of South Portland, Maine

Marine Lance Cpl. Steven M. Chavez, 20, of Hondo, New Mexico

Army Spc. Adam J. Rosema, 27, of Pasadena, California

Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green, 24, of The Woodlands, Texas

Army Spc. Joshua M. Boyd, 30, of Seattle, Washington

Army Spc. Forrest J. Waterbury, 25, of Richmond, Texas

Army Cpl. Brian L. Chevalier, 21, of Athens, Georgia

Army Spc. Stephen M. Kowalczyk, 32, of San Diego, California

Army Sgt. 1st Class John S. Stephens, 41, of San Antonio, Texas

Army Staff Sgt. Blake M. Harris, 27, of Hampton, Georgia

Army Staff Sgt. Terry W. Prater, 25, of Speedwell, Tennessee

Army Sgt. Emerson N. Brand, 29, of Rigby, Idaho

Army Pfc. James L. Arnold, 21, of Mattawan, Michigan

Marine Lance Cpl. Raymond J. Holzhauer, 19, of Dwight, Illinois

Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher R. Brevard, 31, of Phoenix, Arizona

Marine Lance Cpl. Harry H. Timberman, 20, of Minong, Wisconsin

Army Pfc. Anthony A. Kaiser, 27, of Narrowsburg, New York

Army Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin L. Sebban, 29, of South Amboy, New Jersey

Army Sgt. Ed Santini, 25, of Toa Baja, Puerto Rico

Army Pfc. William N. Davis, 26, of Adrian, Michigan

Army Pfc. John F. Landry Jr., 20, of Lowell, Massachusetts

Army Sgt. John E. Allen, 25, of Palmdale, California

Army Sgt. Nimo W. Tauala, 29, of Honolulu, Hawaii

Army Spc. Marieo Guerrero, 30, of Fort Worth, Texas

Army Pfc. Stephen K. Richardson, 22, of Bridgeport, Connecticut

Army Sgt. Wayne R. Cornell, 26, of Holstein, Nebraska

Army Spc. Curtis E. Glawson Jr., 24, of Daleville, Alabama

Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee, 20, of Quitman, Mississippi

Army Pfc. Joey T. Sams II, 22, of Spartanburg, South Carolina

Army Staff Sgt. Darrell R. Griffin Jr., 36, of Alhambra, California

Army Sgt. Nicholas J. Lightner, 29, of Newport, Oregon

Army Sgt. Adrian J. Lewis, 30, of Mauldin, South Carolina

Army Sgt. Freeman L. Gardner Jr., 26, of Little Rock, Arkansas

Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, New York

Army Spc. Lance C. Springer II, 23, of Fort Worth, Texas

Army Sgt. Greg N. Riewer, 30, of Frazee, Minnesota

Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Army Spc. Sean K. McDonald, 21, of Rosemount, Minnesota

Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 24, of South Portland, Maine

Army Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez, 21, of New Freedom, Pennsylvania

Army Pfc. Anthony J. White, 21, of Columbia, South Carolina

Army Cpl. Jason Nunez, 22, of Naranjito, Puerto Rico

Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey, 22, of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus A. Golczynski, 30, of Lewisburg, Tennessee

Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas, 33, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Army Sgt. Joe Polo, 24, of Opalocka, Florida

Army Spc. Christopher M. Wilson, 24, of Bangor, Maine

Army Sgt. Edmund W. McDonald, 25, of Casco, Maine

Army Spc. Agustin Gutierrez, 19, of San Jacinto, California

Army Spc. Wilfred Flores Jr., 20, of Lawton, Oklahoma

Army 1st Lt. Neale M. Shank, 25, of Fort Wayne, Indiana

Information compiled from The Military Times, iCasualties.org, GlobalSecurity.org, and CNN.com. For more detailed information, including photographs and links to biographical information and obituaries, visit militarytimes.com.

Debi Smith has a son who is 17 and a daughter who is 14. She looks at the ages of so many of the fallen and can't imagine what it must be like to send one's child off to war, and what it must be like when they return with injuries, nightmares, and missing limbs (as have almost 25,000), or worse, in a box. Back in 2003, when her son was just 13, she thought she'd never have to worry about such things herself, but four years and 3,278 dead soldiers later, she is becoming increasingly concerned.