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In this commentary this week, Larry Mendte examines the not-so-secret war America is fighting in Yemen. Yemen is a small country consumed by civil war in the past three years. Here are some numbers: 70,000 have died, mostly from famine and disease, the by-products of the civil war. 8,273 miles separate Yemen from Southern Oregon, so why care, some may say? Well, because U.S. Special Forces are already in Yemen. And because Yemen is very similar to other wars America has fought and lost lives in. In the Korean and Vietnam wars, Oregon lost just under 1,000 souls on the combat fields -- 986 to be exact. Both were civil wars we sent our first troops into as advisers. And one more number on why something half a world away matters: the state of Oregon has lost 4,814 soldiers in combat in the five wars since World War II, up through the current war in Afghanistan. Larry Mendte is a television, radio, online and print anchor and reporter and a multiple Emmy-award winning commentator based in the New York area. His commentaries have been syndicated around the country. He has reported around the country since starting at KIEM in Eureka, California.