Piece Description

Nearly 40 public radio producers from around the world lend their voices to a roll call of just some of the names of casualties from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a program being made available to U.S. public radio stations for use on or around Memorial Day. TAKEN TOO SOON: THE COST OF WAR is produced by Paul Ingles, of the non-profit media organization called Good Radio Shows, Inc. The program features some of the names and circumstances of the deaths of coalition forces, Iraqi and Afghan civilians, contractors and journalists killed since the fighting began in Afghanistan in October of 2001. "I don't think there's been a program like this that has acknowledged the loss of life among civilians, contractors and journalists along side of military casualties," says Ingles. "I just felt it was important that people marking Memorial Day in the U.S. take a moment to contemplate a roll call that goes beyond just our own country's loss. All most Americans have heard is that 15, 8, 30 Iraqis died in a certain incident on a given day. These people had names and families just like the men and women of our armed forces. It seems appropriate to me to read some of their names." The hour long program will contain about 135 names meant to represent the various casualty constituencies. A soldier from each state in the U.S. is included. Nearly 40 public radio producers and reporters from around the world volunteered their time to voice part of the list. Ingles used Defense Department information for the names of coalition casualties. Civilian, contractor and journalist names were drawn from press reports and websites devoted to tracking those deaths. This program is offered in 59:00, 54:00 (newscast ready) and 29:00 lengths. 59 + 54 min shows have two one-minute breaks. Also 8 5-minute modules of the roll call are offered to stations wanting to spread them throughtout the day. ADVISORY: Though not explicit, the program does include some details of the cause of death of those listed. Some stations might find such an advisory appropriate depending on what time of day the program is broadcast.