SOLDIER 1 a: one engaged in military service and especially in the army     b: an enlisted man or woman     c: a skilled warrior
(Definitions from Merriam-Webster online. )

stratiotes , Greek, a (common) soldier; metaph. a champion of the cause of Christ

Today, as we remember the men and women who gave their lives on foreign battlegrounds, we need to remember that theirs was an honorable life.

I fear that with a return of anti-war sentiments, once again our warrior soldiers will be ostracized, demonized. I remember the 70's, when soldiers did not wear the uniform with pride. When demonstrators spit on them...

Slowly, men and women in the armed forces were restored to their place of respect. former President Ronald Reagan had a HUGE part in this process. Now, here we are, slowly creeping back... once again... we have not learned from history.

In a war against a group of people who see themselves as "warriors for Allah," who live their lives in a constant battle against the infidels, we despise our warriors.
Public figures give lip service to "supporting the troops" while calling them deceived, pawns, uneducated, low-class. These men and women are fighting for what is right, for freedom. I do believe, I am convinced, that as long we keep our "infidel" feet trampling their "holy" soil... the islamists will continue to concentrate their forces over there, in their "holy" land.

The one thing we do have over them, is the manpower to run a war in more than one front. If we are able to keep their strategists focused on our troops in their homefront, we will keep them from OUR homefront.

And it is our soldiers, the men and women of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard who are indeed keeping us safe. They are fighting for us, for our way of life.

The irony is that while the men they are fighting against see themselves as warriors, willing to die for their cause... to defeat us and our way of life... those who most clearly represent the life they despise, the liberals who promote "Western evil lifestyles" continue to support them.

I am not endorsong misconduct on the part of American soldiers, I am just advocating respect for and acknowledgment of the difficult, bloddy, ugly job they have to do.

It is easy to honor a fallen warrior... it is much harder to stand alongside a live one, especially if he/she is in the midst of a horrifically difficult engagement.