On Tuesday, after a long and difficult selection meeting, we have picked the new members of Bloodthirsty for 2005-2006.

However, my thoughts right now are taken up by news that I heard just minutes ago. Lt. Ryan McLaughlin, a former member of my lab here at Stanford, was killed in action in Iraq. Ryan was in the year as me and we went through all of the first year stuff together, TA training, orientation and so on. I don't claim that I was close to Ryan, but I knew him well and he was one of the few guys that I would regularly associate with during chemistry events. Ryan became a member of the Zare lab in the L2MS section, but quickly realized that, despite his interest in research, his real desire was to serve is country as a member of the US Marine Corps. After two years in the lab he completed a terminal masters degree, and joined a Marine Corps officer training program.

Ryan was killed doing what he most wanted to do in life, doing his duty to his country. His death guides my thoughts towards the men and women who decided what that duty is. It makes me think that those men and women must understand what it means to lose bright futures like Ryan's. Be those futures, great research that pushes the boundary of human knowledge, or merely raising a family, the cost of losing those futures is enormous. Empathy may not be enough to qualify someone to decide whether we can afford to lose those futures. It is important that we can trust the leaders, into whose hand we put the futures of thousands of men and women like Ryan, to make sound decisions that truly weigh the consequences against the gains.

We all lost when Ryan was killed. I know that his light shone brightly wherever he was and whatever he was doing. How many deaths will it take before we all see war as a last resort? Do we all have to lose someone like Ryan before we can understand the true cost of wars even when they take place far away?

Even if you never knew Ryan, please take a few moments to think about his memory and the family that he leaves behind.