Who should sacrifice in time of war?

Below is my transcript of part of Terry Gross' interview with Ted Koppel, in which he discusses why he devoted a Nightline segment to reading the names of those soldiers who have died in Iraq. The entire interview is about 30 minutes. You can hear it for yourself at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4131015. I am interested in your reactions: should the American public be doing more toward the war effort, or is our job just to carry on with everyday life?

"We did it as a tribute. I deliberately did not want to do it on Memorial Day because then I felt it would just . . . we do things like that on Memorial Day all the time, and they become a part of that day and they get mixed up with the picnics and the start of the summer season and people don’t pay much attention. And I just thought, Lord, when we have this many young men and women who have died, that at least to be aware. I confess to a personal frustration and I felt that when President Clinton sent troops to Kosovo and I have felt that when President Bush sent these troops to Iraq. I’m a World War II baby; I grew up in England during World War II, and I remember, although I was very young at the time, that there was sacrifice involved, not just by the people who were fighting the war, but by the people at home. There was rationing; we had to keep our lights out; there were blackouts; their homes were hit by bombs and people had to spend their nights in underground shelters to avoid the bombing of London. And it just seems to me that these days the approach seems to be, “We can fight a war, and you folks back home don’t have to give up anything. Not only do we not have to raise taxes to support this war, we’re going to give you a tax cut, even as we are at war. There is nothing that any of you has to do, save those of you who have family members or close friends in Iraq. But the rest of you can just go on with your lives as though nothing were happening.” I think that’s a bad way for a country to be at war. I think it needs to be a national commitment, and that involves a certain amount of national sacrifice. And I thought that by showing the faces and reading the names of the young men and women who had died . . . and as I said during the program, not only do I not oppose the war, I happen to believe that we are committed over there, and we need to carry it through to a proper conclusion. I’m not for pulling the troops out. So this was not a political statement on my part, but it was a statement that says, 'Pay attention. You know, there are real young men and women, and some not so young men and women, who are dying.'”