A VALID COMPLAINT?

It looks that way to me.

The family of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq says the military needs a better way for relatives to reach injured soldiers overseas.

The wife of Army Staff Sgt. Sean Landrus wishes she had gotten a chance to say goodbye. Chris Landrus says one call isn't too much to ask.

The soldier died Jan. 29 in a hospital in Iraq from wounds he suffered from a roadside bomb two days earlier. His family says they didn't find out how bad his injuries were until after he died.

Ohio Rep. Steve LaTourette wants the Defense Department to do more to give families immediate telephone access to the places where wounded soldiers are treated.

The Army says it tries to share as much information as possible, but that security and extreme conditions make the job difficult.

On the one hand, this being the information age of sattelite uplinks and such, seems this complaint could be addressed.

On the other hand, such advances raise entirely new policy questions that would need sorting out. One issue I can foresee is the perception of a lack of parity. One spouse saying "Mrs. X got to speak to her husband as he was being treated for injuries...why didn't I?"

It is clear to me from reading, oh, I don't know, about a gzillion news stories over the last 302 days, that neither the press nor the average family member of a soldier understand that in a war zone, you get only what you make. And not all are able to make the same.