Afghanistan

It is very sad and disturbing to continue reading and hearing about the skirmishes still transpiring in and around Afghanistan in order for the U.S. and NATO to maintain control of the terrorist forces, including al-Qaida and the Taliban, which is an absolute necessity. In my opinion, the most frightening aspect of this continual conflict is President Barack Obama's recent declaration that our troops would be withdrawn from this area in 2014 - a date which appears to be nothing more than a political ploy in order to please the American public, when the announcement of a more comprehensive statement by Mr. Obama to the effect that the troops would remain there until the problems were resolved, and our troops were no longer needed, would have been more practical.

Army Sgt. Justin Haggerty was 7,000 miles away from his wife and daughter last Fourth of July — with his canine partner, HHelotes, in Afghanistan, searching for explosives and helping to protect a U.S. Special Forces group from the enemy. This year, Haggerty has a new mission: patrolling Fort Meade's Independence Day celebration. He will report to duty at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, dressed in his combat uniform and boots laced up his ankles, to inspect vehicles that enter the base and scout the grounds with his new dog, Rodi.

"Pops, when I come home, Natty Bohs and crabs?" Lance Cpl. Eugene C. "Gene" Mills III asked his father, Gene Mills II, during an impromptu phone call early last week, about a month before the younger man was due to return home to Laurel from Afghanistan. "One more mission, Pops, and I'll be home," the son told his father. "Love you, Pops. " Those were the last words his father - a retired Prince George's County police officer known as "Big Gene" - would ever hear from "Little Gene," 21, a High Road Academy graduate and Marine stationed in Helmand province, on his second deployment to the country.

The remains of Lance Cpl. Eugene C. Mills III, 21, of Laurel, who was known by some of his Marine comrades as "Gino Bambino," were scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., shortly before noon Monday, according to a family friend. On Friday, Mills was killed in combat in the Helmand province of Afghanistan as a Marine assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was the fifth service member from Maryland killed this year, and the fourth to die in Afghanistan.

A Marine from Laurel was killed Friday in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Saturday night. Lance Cpl. Eugene C. Mills III, 21, died in combat in Helmand province, the Pentagon said. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Mills is the fifth service member from Maryland killed this year, and the fourth to die in Afghanistan. matthew.brown@baltsun.com Twitter.com/matthewhaybrown Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Inside a two-story, cylindrical metal structure at Aberdeen Proving Ground, scientists detonate a homemade bomb to take high-speed pictures of the shrapnel flying apart. Elsewhere on the Army installation in Harford County, soldiers train on radio jammers intended to render enemy remote controls useless. At still another location, inventors work on hand-held test kits that will enable troops to identify chemicals used by bomb makers. All of the activity is aimed at stopping the signature weapon of the enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq: the improvised explosive device, the IED, which has been responsible for more than half the American combat deaths over the past decade and many of the brain injuries and amputations.

Your list of the names of U.S. soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since last Memorial Day on Monday's editorial page was nice, but it conveniently left out the body count ("U.S. fallen in Afghanistan," May 28). Since 2009, when Barack Obama became president, 1,355 U.S. soldiers have died in the Afghan war. Yet the mainstream media, including The Sun, is not counting. Of course, whenGeorge W. Bushwas president, we got the body count every day. Where is the fairness in The Sun's approach?

I was moved by the Editorial Page tribute listing the names of our soldiers killed in Afghanistan since last Memorial Day, and I appreciated that you highlighted the names of the five Marylanders who gave their lives for our country ("U.S. fallen in Afghanistan," May 28). We civilians need to be reminded of the cost of preserving our freedoms. It still remains true that "freedom is never free. " Denise Lutz, Ocean Pines

The Memorial Day listing of those U.S. servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan over the past year hit me with the same numb despair that I remember feeling when I first saw the black granite Vietnam Memorial. The solemn reality of the Afghan War's cost is staggering. I had no idea so many had fallen since last Memorial Day. As an American, I'm appalled by this tragic loss of life - and for what? As much as I would like to understand the meaning of the Afghan War, I just can't.