What do these dead soldiers have in common?

Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y. and
Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va. died April 22 from wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

Pfc. Shane D. Penley, 19, of Sauk Village, Ill., died April 6 at Patrol Base Copper, Iraq, from wounds suffered while on duty at a guard post.

Spc. Joshua A. Molina, 20, of Houston, Texas, died Mar. 27 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Cpl. Steven I. Candelo, 20, of Houston, died March 26 in Baghdad, when his vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade.

Cpl. William D. O’Brien, 19, of Rice, Texas, died March 15 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when he was attacked by small arms fire during combat operations.

All of the above soldiers died before they were old enough to be legally served a beer.

The United States has the highest drinking age in the world.

How is that working out for us?

If an 18 year old is mature enough to go to boot camp, then, a few months later, the front lines, he/she should be able to have a beer, for God's sake.

Raise the combat age to 21, or lower the drinking age to 18.

I don't care about the statistics. The injustice of this has to be corrected.

Personally, I'd prefer we raised the combat age to 21, so that we would no longer be able to wage war. Now there is a law that would save a lot of young lives.

Let them drink, or stop sending them to Iraq to get killed.