For me, it means that those who are most affected by the war are the ones that sacrifice the most so that those people at war continue to live and be at war. Say for example, a husband and wife with children. They finally decided to end the marriage and have a divorce. The children are caught in between and they sacrifice the most because they lose out on having a complete family. The parents, who are at war are the ones getting what they want and they continue to live their lives without knowing that they are killing the future of their children. So in relation to the quote, the dead are the children who are indirectly affected by the divorce and the living are the parents.

The cost of war (from a strategic point of view) is measured by body count. If 600 Marines attempt to take a position and 250 are killed, the cost of the effort is measured by the :price: paid–250 KIA’s plus the number of wounded. Not in how many bullets were fired or the monetary cost of logistics, etc. But in the price (debt ) paid. Those 250 are considered the debt owed to take an objective-their death may have saved thousands of lives.

Dr. Tommy Skelton

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