The number of American troops killed in Iraq since March 2003 has been approaching 2,000, and most of the dead are men and women not that much younger, or older, than I am.

But as the war enters a third year, some of my peers don't seem to notice, while I find myself becoming increasingly consumed by it.

Every time I see the picture of another dead young person, like Casey Sheehan, Nainoa Hoe or Deyson Cariaga, I am immediately reminded that my demographic is doing a lot of the bleeding and most of the dying.

More than 120,000 American troops, most of them young volunteers culled from every corner of the country, are fighting a violent, stubborn insurgency in the middle of a desert. Recent reports suggest that 100,000 of those troops will be in Iraq until at least 2009.

I know I can't do anything tangible for them, but they keep dying, and I can't ignore it.

The war is also getting the attention of my fellow Americans.

According to a Aug. 5-7 CNN/ USA Today/ Gallup poll, 43 percent of Americans say that things are going well for the United States in Iraq, while the majority, 56 percent, say that things are going badly.

A lot of people my age dismiss the daily news of carnage and death with an unspoken "Thank God it's not me over there."

But too many have stopped paying attention. Iraq is just one big "bummer" that you don't bring up at parties.

That's too bad, because these are brave kids dying horrible deaths in a distant land. Thousands of others, some only months removed from senior proms and weddings, are left maimed or burned by car bombs, snipers, improvised explosive devices, land mines and firefights.

These young men and women are displaying more heart and conviction than the rest of us are used to. They signed up for this. Many believe so strongly in the cause that they are willing to die when ordered into harm's way.

Many of us my age have never cared that much about anything.

During the Vietnam War, the country was afire with outspoken opposition. My parents protested; some of their friends didn't, but they all seemed to have opinions.

But the "culture" of my generation has been homogenized to the point that if it isn't on TV or in a news update e-mailed to a cell phone, then it can't be all that important.

At times, I too grow weary of the tug of war between the left and the right about the decision to go to war and the reasoning behind it.

But I'm still paying attention, and what really stands out in my mind are the flag-draped coffins.