These photos came to me in a forwarded email today. I wish I knew who the photographer was, so I could give him or her credit. I wish I knew the names of the American soldiers in these photos, as well. These images are as much a "flag" for me as the actual Stars and Stripes are. They represent the best of who and what our country is, and the spirit that we need not to lose.
War is a terrible, terrible thing, but that fact never causes me to lose my deep admiration for the men and women who go into it on their nation's behalf.
Our government's actions and inactions since 2001 have cost Iraq and Afghanistan and the U.S. dearly. And yet--underneath and within the bloodshed, confusion, loss and chaos, here are these men: examples of courage and caring, examples of what I always believed the American spirit to be: a source of support, hope, and light to others. God bless them, strengthen them, protect them and all those who are suffering through and enduring these conflicts in a way we who do not have to participate in these conflicts with flesh and blood and family can not even begin to fully understand.
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