The Cost of War

 Used book sales draw me like metal to a magnet. Those recent events in our local libraries   furnished me with some finds that offer hours of reading. One of them, Andy Rooney’s My War, gave a unique perspective on participating in World War II. As a reporter for the widely circulated Stars and Stripes newspaper, he was embedded with bomber crews to see the war from their side. Learning a great deal when he rode along on bombing runs, he wrote of the money being spent in meaningful terms. At the time the large .50 caliber guns the crewmen shot at attacking planes cost about $1.00 per bullet. With all guns blazing, it didn’t take long to expend thousands of dollars’  worth of ammunition. One estimate places the cost for today’s war at 33 billion dollars in 30 days in Iran. Even the drones cost thousands. Go figure.