Every loss is a tragedy.   No question.   But, this article from StrategyPage.com gives us some historical perspective -

July 28, 2004: American casualties in Iraq are often compared to those suffered during the Vietnam war. On an annual basis, American combat deaths per 1,000 troops in Iraq have been about 3.6. During the Vietnam war it varied from year to year, as the following chart shows.

Year	Combat Dead	Troops in Vietnam	Dead per 1,000
1966	5,008	385,000	13.0
1967	9,378	486,000	19.3
1968	14,592	535,000	27.3
1969	9,414	475,000	19.8
1970	4,221	334,000	12.6
1971	1,380	156,000	8.8
1972	300	24,000	12.5

Why are the casualties in Iraq so much lower? After all, in both wars, most of the fighting was against irregulars, who operated among civilians. There are several major differences. Most importantly, the troops in Iraq are better trained and have more time in the military than was the case in Vietnam. The American officers and NCOs in Iraq are better trained as well. Another major factor is superior equipment, which ranges from more effective body armor, to better radios and lots of robots and UAVs. While it’s easier to credit better technology, by far the most important reason for the lower casualties has been the quality of the troops. This quality also leads to more effective tactics being developed and used. Some soldiers who have been in Iraq, and had seen combat in Vietnam (usually older reservists) have observed that the Vietnam communists they faced in the 1960s were much more capable than the Iraqis. But that is partly because the Vietnamese fighters had more experience at that kind of warfare, having been at it since the late 1930s. The Iraqis are new to it. 

It generally goes unnoticed in the mass media that the casualty rate among American troops in Iraq is at a historical low. This is a remarkable achievement in military history, and will be studied for decades to come, even if it was not noticed much while it was happening.

(reproduced nearly in full, alas, cuz I have no idea if strategypage.com has working permalinks)

War is hell.   And for most people on the planet, Life itself is Hell.   Death happens and it is Tragic.

But, let's keep things in perspective whilst the media eagerly counts down to the "1000 Dead in Iraq" headline - that's a fifth of the total casualties in year one of Vietnam and still nearly a third less than the first day of D-Day.   1000, when it happens, is less than half of the overall casualties predicted by Centcom at the outset of the war.  And need I point out that it's only a third of our casualties on 9/11?