More important than our political beliefs, our views on the war and daily concerns about what to wear to work and where to go to lunch, is our soldiers. The word that immediately comes to mind as describing our American service personnel is sacrifice. One dictionary describes sacrifice as, "the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim". 
I am sure that soldiers and citizens alike have their own views as to why soldiers fight for us. Two reasons are strikingly apparent for all, freedom and love. Soldiers fight on behalf of you and me, for our freedom and for a world free from terror. Soldiers do this because they love us and they understand that some things are worth giving their life.
Soldiers have honored their comrades in foreign lands hours after a violent attacks by a ruthless enemy. They have paid the ultimate sacrifice. What we too often forget is the wounded who have also sacrificed; their sacrifice was that of pain. The picture above shows a father awaiting surgery on his hand that was blown off during an attack in Iraq. He was lucky, he was able to come back home to hold his daughter. Many leave behind not only parents and spouses but also sons and daughters. Only a parent can understand when a son or daughter loses their father or mother in combat.
Although a tragedy, this sacrifice has been made by rough and ready men and women who are stronger than us. College degrees, good jobs and fast cars do not the better man make. We cannot begin to compare ourselves with the American soldier. Their heart pumps a redder blood than ours. They live for us when we only live for ourselves.
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