the soldier is right, they give thier lives for his country and to give the nation of peace...i salute them coz without them maybe our nation is always on war and maybe we are dead now, because of this bad people. we must pray for there safety everyday. The PEACE is always with us in our heart...With the heavenly Father and his SON JESUS CHRIST peace be with us all. and PEACE be with you ALL!!! GOD BLESS TO ALL The PEOPLE HERE ON EARTH.

Well, I am sorry but did the children (yeah in my book, 18 and 19 year olds are still kids)and teachers at VT sign up to die at school or did they sign up to get an education? We HONOR them because we know that this can happen at any school today and it was a tragic waste of lives for them to die the way they did.

As for not lowering the flag for the fallen inlisted service people-well, when you volunteer to go to war then you must face the fact that you may not make it home. It is a hazard of the job so to speak that if you are in the military you could die. It shouldn't be part of any school's freshman orientation that you may be shot during class. I think the nation was honoring those lost and our own loss of security. It is easy to negate the loss of "troops" in Iraq at this point-the media blends them into one unit, faceless and nameless with a running death toll. VT hit in our own backyard and could have been any one of us that have gone to school there or any family with college aged kids. For better or worse the killings at VT are more real to most people.

But using the death's of those at VT to further your own political debate is just low to me. Common. Those kids at VT were gunned down for no reason, it has been a tremendous loss to the Tech community as well as thier families. It just sickens me to see so many people using this as a spring board for their own agendas. Disapointing.

GO HOKIES
Class of 95

I believe the Flag should be lowered until all our troops are home.
Yes, the VT victims needed to be recongized w/respect. Young lives cut short - these killings senseless & my prayers & sympathy go to all the victims & their familes. But I have to ask this - was the young man who planned this horrible act - is he an American? That brings up another issue!

My son is leaving for his 2nd tour this coming Saturday. Irag bound. I fear for him, but this is his job, to protect our NATION. This family is very proud of him. But our troops are forgotten. These young men & women who honor their country need to be remembered everyday with respect. LOWER THE FLAG UNTIL EVERY SOLDIER IS HOME.
Americans need to see all the Flagged coffins coming home. I recently went to Ft. Riley to visit w/my family. We all waited to get off the plan. With respect we watched to flagged coffins get off first. The plane was packed w/troops coming home for R&R. Do you know how many soldiers have gone AWOL - because they do not believe in this war? Do you know how many are trying to get out on a medical discharge?

Flying the US Flag at half mast for the mourning of our fallen VT students, I believe is a very respectable gesture that all US Citizens should recognize and respect, and they in turn should also remember that the fallen soldiers are also US Citizens that were there serving in the pursue of our freedom and should rightfully be recognized for their honor in protecting the freedom of all of the people of the US. So, lets just fly the flags at half mast until all of our troops are returned from this war that we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

EVERY VET. GETS A HONOR GUARD AND FLAG, IF THE FAM. WANTS.
THE VT KIDS GOT A FLAG AT HALF MAST AND THEY WERE JUST GOING TO SCHOOL, GIVE THEM A BRAKE.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VT AND A VET. IS EASY.
TO THE VT FAMILY'S "WE'RE SORRY"
TO THE VETS. FAMILY "WE'RE GREATFUL, WE HONOR YOU"

THANKS,, 29th DIV. VET.

What happened at Virgina Tech is tragic. What is happening in Iraq and in the United States of America is criminal.

As a veteran I find it dispicable that Bush was AWOL, then steals the office of President, twice. It is dispicable that we are killing innocent Iraqis and our American youth in our military on a lie for Halliburton and the Bush ego.

It is further dispicable when Bush refuses to honor his promises to Veterans. Its a short sighted shallow personage, swaggering, bragging and playing president, to lower the American Flag for the students killed at Virginia Tech but not for our dead Soldiers, Sailers, Marines, Airmen and probably Coast Guardsmen in this illegal war.

Lower our flags for the right reasons... for our Troops...

One life is not worth more than another. The difference I see is that members of the military were sent into harm's way. The students went to school.
All our flags should fly half staff until all internationalists are out of Iraq.

As a Veteran of Iraq and a huge Patriot I must say I disagree with a lot of opinions.
I serve my country and it's people so the flag can fly high. Not to be a hero.
There were very clear guidelines put into the constitution in 1923.

The only "Respect" I need is that old glory flies high and that when you hear the National Anthem, you stop, put your hand on your heart and feel inside what it stands for.

Flying the flag at half staff is supposed to mean something, when you do it every day for every little incident it makes it mean nothing. Why do you think our forefathers only meant it to fly at half staff until noon on Memorial day. It is supposed to be that significant.

Lets keep it that way.