A Box of Flowers

Images courtesy: Sheyanne Baker

Sheyanne Baker was sitting down to dinner with her husband when she heard someone at the door. With a daughter deployed to Afghanistan and a son in Iraq at the time, knocks on the door made both their hearts jump. Her husband ran to the door to see who was there.

To their relief, it was not a military messenger carrying bad news. It was a delivery man carrying a box.

"They were flowers," Sheyanne told The Unknown Soldiers. "I said, 'Honey, you shouldn't have' (to my husband). He said, 'Read the card.'"

A few months later, just before this past Christmas, there was another knock on the door of their Shelton, Wash., home. This time, Sheyanne was at work. The Walmart employee was about to take her lunch break when a co-worker asked her to come to the store manager's office.

When Sheyanne arrived, the door was closed, prompting her to knock.

"As one of the managers opened the door, I saw the two servicemen," the mother painfully recounted. "'Oh my God, which one?' I said. Then they had me take a seat and told me who it was."

It was Sheyanne's oldest daughter, Spc. Mikayla Bragg, who was just a few days away from leaving Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon, the 21-year-old soldier died in Khowst Province on Dec. 21, 2011. Her mother said that as of Feb. 2, an Army investigation into Mikayla's death was still in progress, although she has been told that her daughter — a qualified sharpshooter — died in a guard tower.

Sheyanne last spoke to her daughter on Dec. 19, two days before her death. Mikayla said that while the previous day had actually been fun, she was looking forward to coming home soon.

"I'd always tell her I love her and to be safe," the grieving mom said. "Her last words to me were 'I love you too and I always am.'"

In the middle of a grief-induced blur, Sheyanne found herself on a six-hour flight from the Pacific Northwest to Dover, Del., where the soldier's loved ones, including her father, Steve Bragg, welcomed Mikayla home. The flag-draped casket carrying the remains of Spc. Bragg would be escorted back to Washington state by her half-brother, Sgt. Allen Davids, 26, who returned from Iraq shortly before Mikayla's death in Afghanistan. He was driving home from his base to surprise his family for Christmas when he got the tragic news.

"I don't know how he held it together, but he said, 'Nobody else is going to bring home my sister,'" Sheyanne recalled.

Instead of a celebration under the gold star on top of the Christmas tree, Sheyanne was forced to adjust to life as a Gold Star mother. While she called the holidays "somber," it was during the painful season when she resolved that her daughter would always be remembered.

"I set up a table with her pictures on it and a candle," Sheyanne said.

As the candle's light flickered, the grieving mother thought of how Mikayla appreciated the "little things in life," such as trips to the store with her mom when she was a child. Sheyanne later heard stories that summed up, in her mind, how her daughter lived.

"At one of the services we had, a guy stood up and said he didn't know her, but he remembered seeing her walk through the halls of their high school," she said. "There was a girl sitting there crying, and Mikayla ... sat there with her and asked what she could do to make it better."

Spc. Mikayla Bragg flew halfway around the world to help make things better in Afghanistan. She missed her family, including her sister, Kandyce, 17, with whom she shared a very close bond. And she always looked forward to getting care packages from her mom.

A few months earlier, when Sheyanne's eyes began scanning through the card that came with her flowers, they welled up with tears when she quickly realized that her daughter, even in the middle of a deployment to Afghanistan, had taken the time to send a care package home.

"Thanks for being my mom," the card read.

COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM

Invisible Sacrifice

Image courtesy: Petty Officer 1st Class Bill Steele

Almost nobody in the United States has heard of Operation Aluminum Python, an eastern Afghanistan mission to root terrorists out of the treacherous, poppy-infested Mayl Valley. This riveting account, written by a military journalist on the ground, details a tense encounter between brave Oklahoma National Guard soldiers and a Taliban fighter.

"The enemy sniper moved silently in the mountain darkness, snake-like, as he stalked the American and Afghan National Army soldiers, waiting for his opportunity to strike," Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Bill Steele wrote.

When soldiers received intelligence indicating that they were being followed, a team of Americans and Afghans hunted down the terrorist. After a tense standoff, the enemy fighter was killed.

"We gave him a tactical call-out, but he didn’t want to play ball," Army 1st Lt. Craig McCullah, from Topeka, Kansas, said.

This is the stuff of movies, yet it's barely noticed enough back home to make the evening news. With military journalists risking their lives to bring these stories home, the least we can do is notice.

The soldiers who killed this terrorist weren't looking for headlines; they wanted to protect those around them and stay alive themselves. Yet it's stories like these that Americans need to hear about, especially as the public is being conditioned into thinking that the war in Afghanistan is over or almost over by some politicians and media figures.

I recently spoke with a grieving mother who lost her daughter in Afghanistan less than six weeks ago. With tens of thousands of Americans in battle and some coming home to their families in flag-draped caskets, the notion that this war is "winding down" is misguided and wrong.

The sacrifices being made by our troops are largely invisible. All of us can help change that. We can frequently remind our friends -- via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and casual conversation -- that our men and women in uniform are in harm's way. We can donate to organizations that truly care about our troops, veterans, military families, and families of the fallen.

We can also pray for those who put everything on the line to protect us in Afghanistan and beyond. Without them, more terrorists would be lurking in American cities and towns. Instead, they hide in mountains half a world away as our heroes hunt them down.

Image courtesy: Spc. Ken Scar

Father, Husband, Son, General

Image courtesy: U.S. Army

The death of any U.S. soldier is devastating, but the Feb. 3 death of Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner in Afghanistan's Kabul province has come as a particular shock to the Army community. On Friday, Hildner became the first American general to die while serving in Afghanistan.

"This is a tragic loss for the Army, III Corps and for our Central Texas community," Lt. Gen. Don Campbell Jr., the commander of Fort Hood, said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. The command will remain focused on assisting the family through this difficult time."

The death of Brig. Gen. Hildner, 49, is under investigation. An article by the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office said the general succumbed to "apparent natural causes."

Hildner's death has stunned deployed units in Afghanistan, troops on the home front, and most tragically, the general's family, including his four children.

"Both forward deployed elements and we at home station are deeply saddened by this loss," Col. Knowles Atchison said. "We will all pull together through this difficult period and care for one another."

Hildner, who considered Fairfax, Virginia, to be his home, had a staggering record of accomplishment. His father, retired Air Force Col. Robert Hildner, told The Washington Post his son was a joy to be around.

"From the Irish side of the family, he inherited a sense of humor and exuberance about life," Robert Hildner told The Post. "And from the German side, a singularity of purpose and a very keen analytical mind."

The Unknown Soldiers blog sends its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fellow troops of Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner. While our nation has lost a dedicated military leader, two parents have lost their son, a wife has lost her husband, and four younger Americans have lost their dad. Yet as the war in Afghanistan continues -- every moment of every day -- the words of Col. Knowles Atchison bear repeating.

"We will all pull together through this difficult period and care for one another."

Image courtesy: U.S. Air Force/Roland Balik

'Just Follow Me'

Images courtesy: Jarboe family

Soldiers from the Army's 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment had spent several hours securing a perilous southern Afghanistan village on Apr. 10, 2011, when Sgt. Jamie Jarboe relayed an order to leave. The day's mission was accomplished, and it was time to head back to base.

"Just follow me," Sgt. Jarboe said.

The soldier recounted what happened next.

"I turned to my right, and before I put my foot on the ground, I hit the ground like a sack of potatoes," Jarboe told The Unknown Soldiers. "The scariest part was when I realized what happened."

An enemy sniper had shot Jamie just as he was leading the Pale Riders, as his unit is known, out of the area.

"The blood was soaking my clothes, and at this point I was like, 'Holy crap, I'm really hurt,'" the 27-year-old warrior said. "I remember looking at my hand, and it wouldn't even move, and that's when I started freaking out."

As he lay in the blood-soaked mud of Afghanistan, unable to take cover as a firefight erupted all around him, Jarboe thought of the woman he had just married on Valentine's Day and the two children at home who needed him. "If I'm going to succumb to these wounds," Jamie thought, "then it'll be on my own terms."

"I'm not dying out here," the Frankfort, Ind., soldier resolved. "I'm going to die someplace like America."

After passing out, Jarboe later woke up at the first of many hospitals he would visit in the United States.

"I made it," he thought. "I'm here."

Despite his iron will, it is often difficult for Jarboe to speak, and it's even harder for him to come to grips with the fact that he's paralyzed from the chest down. But whenever he needed to pause for a quick breather during our phone conversation, Melissa Jarboe, 32, spoke up to convey unconditional, unwavering support for her husband.

"I have an acceptance of a path that we're all chosen for," Melissa said. "We talked about it before he left."

Melissa demonstrates her faith even during the toughest moments, such as the time when one of her daughters asked who shot Jamie.

"I said, 'I don't know, but I want you to pray for him, even if he's the enemy,'" she recalled.

While God is a source of comfort, nothing could have prepared Melissa for seeing her husband in the hospital.

"The first time I got to see Jamie, I literally went into shock," she said. "He was trying to scream, but being hooked up to so many machines, he couldn't talk."

Having already deployed to Iraq, Jamie knew the risks of war. What frustrated him about Afghanistan, however, was rarely being able to see the enemy.

"You're always getting shot at from really close range," he said. "But because of the buildings, trees and farmland, it's hard to tell where it's coming from."

As Jamie lay in a Colorado hospital bed awaiting a transfer back to Maryland, where he would have surgery the next day at Johns Hopkins University, the wounded soldier and his wife repeatedly cited the courage of the children as a constant source of renewable strength.

"Both girls forfeited their Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and spent (the holidays) in the hospital with us," Melissa said. "Never once have they complained."

Jamie and Melissa never thought their first year of marriage would take place mostly inside hospital rooms. But ever since Sgt. Jarboe bravely told his fellow soldiers to "just follow me," support has poured into their lives via thousands of cards, emails and Facebook messages.

"It's all been very surprising to me," the grateful wounded warrior said in a soft, quiet voice.

Jamie and Melissa both asked several questions about what was going on in my life, as hearing about the day-to-day experiences of others helps them feel connected to the outside world. Someday soon, they hope their lives will regain some sense of normalcy.

"My goal is to be done with the hospitals," Jamie said. "I want to do what a father does and be what a husband's supposed to be."

COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM

The Fight of Our Lives

Image courtesy: Staff Sgt. Jason Epperson

Our lives depend on what's happening right now in Afghanistan, where terrorists trained, planned, and plotted to attack America on Sept. 11, 2001. You just wouldn't know it by monitoring popular news sources in the United States.

An 11:30 a.m. scan of the CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC websites yielded exactly one mention of the war in Afghanistan in the top story sections of the three most prominent U.S. cable news home pages. Amazingly, the Jan. 31 captures of two Taliban leaders in Helmand and Kandahar provinces are apparently not newsworthy, especially during presidential primary season.

To me, the most serious decision any president can make is putting our brave men and women in uniform in harm's way. To repeatedly downplay or ignore a war in which brave Americans die and suffer devastating wounds every week, as journalists have done in several GOP debates and presidential press conferences, does a grave disservice to our democracy, which generations of brave Americans have laid down their lives to protect.

On Jan. 25, Army 1st Lt. David Johnson was killed by an enemy improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, according to the Pentagon. The 24-year-old soldier leaves behind his parents, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. The Appleton Post Crescent in Wisconsin has been covering the Horicon/Mayville soldier's tragic passing.

Andrew and Laura Johnson, who traveled to Delaware's Dover Air Force Base to meet their son's flag-draped casket, released a written statement.

"We are very proud of our son. He is a hero. He first was a man of God. He has been a strong leader at Mayville High School, at Evangel University and to the men in his unit. David had no fear of adversity; he lived life to the fullest. There are no regrets. He is an American hero. We love him very much and miss him very much."

How could America not be paying attention to this story? When the Taliban, al Qaeda, or other enemies of freedom murder one of our volunteer warriors, we should all take it personally. If we continue to look the other way as men and women we largely don't know fly around the world to confront evil, I firmly believe the horror we all witnessed on an initially bright fall day in 2001 will return to our shores.

As journalists obsess over the latest presidential polling numbers and Demi Moore's 911 call tapes, valiant men like Spc. Robert Irwin, pictured above, and courageous women like Capt. Katherine Redding, pictured below, risk their lives in a dangerous, primitive country. Someday, when there is peace, many will finally realize how important their sacrifices have been to the cause of freedom. But instead of waiting for history books to be written, let's all take notice right now.

Image courtesy: Spc. Crystal Davis

Uncle Nick

Images courtesy: Olivia Hoffman

Only days after her brother lost his legs in Afghanistan, Olivia Hoffman learned that she and her husband were expecting their second child. Already overwhelmed with emotion as her big brother fought for his life, Olivia asked God for strength.

"I cried many nights following that wondering if this baby would ever get to meet (his or her) Uncle Nick," Olivia said in an email to The Unknown Soldiers. Her account of the months since Army 1st Lt. Nick Vogt was nearly killed in a Kandahar province terrorist attack on Nov. 12, 2011, is among the most poignant pieces of writing one will ever encounter.

"Although he only got to meet my other daughter in the hospital when she was born (he deployed two days later) he would always mail her stuff and Skype with us," she continued. "After his brain surgery, his memory is a little rocky, and he hadn't remembered that I had a daughter, but he got to see her through the door at Christmas and he by far gave her the biggest smile."

First Lt. Vogt has undergone countless surgeries since his life was saved by soldiers on the battlefield and doctors in Afghanistan, Germany, and the United States. The amount of blood needed to keep the Army Ranger alive, according to family members, is among the most ever given to a wounded service member.

"His biggest hurdle right now is getting rid of the ventilator," Olivia wrote on Jan. 13.

As I initially worked on this column, Olivia asked me to pause after Nick's condition suddenly deteriorated. According to doctors, Nick almost died on the operating table during surgery on one of his lungs. Even amid a frightening setback, the Vogt family, friends, and thousands of supporters on the "Nick Vogt Family" Facebook page simultaneously dropped to their knees in prayer.

About 48 hours later, their prayers were answered.

"Nick has been very stable these last two days, and doctors are optimistic the surgery was a success in repairing the lung," Olivia wrote.

Nick, who turned 24 in the hospital on Dec. 13, 2011, is the oldest of five siblings. As their brother fights for his life, Olivia, 22, cares for her two younger sisters and brother in Crestline, Ohio, while her parents spend countless hours at Nick's Bethesda, Md., bedside.

"They are up at 6 every morning walking to the hospital and don't leave until around 8 (p.m.)," she explained. "They put on such strong faces for Nick. We always tease mom because she is such a 'crier' and very emotional, but her and Dad have really been Nick's rock throughout this whole ordeal."

The community is not only rallying around Nick because he is a wounded warrior. From relatives to folks who barely know Nick, everyone I've corresponded with says he is a genuinely splendid person.

"Nobody has ever not liked him," Olivia said. "He's also one of the most humble human beings I know."

Even while dealing with unimaginable pain in the hospital, Nick's warm personality brightens the smiles of his caregivers.

"Mom just shared a funny story with me," his sister wrote. "The other day there were four nurses working around him, and one was very cute.

"Nick woke up and mouthed 'you're beautiful,' then realizing he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, he mouthed the same to the other nurses," Olivia continued. "That's totally Nick!"

A decision this selfless patriot made earlier in life is also "totally Nick." After being accepted to medical school following his West Point graduation, Vogt chose to first attend Army Ranger School. He wanted to deploy as quickly as possible.

"I want to be a warrior in order to take care of warriors," Olivia quoted her brother as saying.

Even though doctors now take care of him, 1st Lt. Nick Vogt will always be a warrior. And as his next niece or nephew grows up, the child will want to be just like Uncle Nick.

"Despite being stuck in the ICU for two months and still not being able to talk, he will mouth the words 'thank you' to his nurses," Olivia said.

Let's all join together in mouthing those words right back.

COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM

We Can Beat Them

Image courtesy: Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam Henderson

I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins
Like dolphins can swim
Though nothing
Will keep us together
We can beat them
For ever and ever
Oh we can be heroes
Just for one day

While the David Bowie song "Heroes" is about a couple that meets at the Berlin Wall, I can't help but associate the chorus with heroic men and women who continue the fight for freedom. While every branch of the military honorably serves and sacrifices, the Navy SEAL community continues to distinguish itself as one of America's most reliable, important weapons against evil.

The latest example of bravery and courage was in Somalia, where Special Operations warriors -- possibly including Navy SEALs, according to various reports -- freed American and Danish hostages from the grasp of pirates. Numerous articles said that both hostages were safely rescued during the daring raid, in which nine terrorists were killed and no Americans were killed or wounded.

"This successful hostage rescue, undertaken in a hostile environment, is a testament to the superb skills of courageous service members who risked their lives to save others," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a written statement.

As The Boys of Abbottabad dramatically showed the world in May by killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Navy SEALs are always ready to deploy around the world to fight some of the world's most difficult, crucial battles. Yet it's important to recognize that SEALs, despite unparalleled training, are not terminators. They are men with families who make extraordinary sacrifices to keep us safe.

During recent months, including a tragic August day in Dover, Delaware, I've gotten the chance to meet several members of the SEAL community. What amazes me most, aside from the enormous amount of training and time away from home SEAL families must endure, is how extraordinary things are portrayed as ordinary during the course of a given conversation. While no SEAL would call himself a hero, quietly embodying those traits is clearly part of the job.

During the course of a long war against terrorists, many Americans have openly wondered whether our nation would ultimately be victorious against its enemies. Whenever doubt creeps in, I urge you to think of our Navy SEALs and their families. From Virginia to California, where they live and train, to dangerous places like Afghanistan and Somalia, where they fight, defeat is simply not an option for these warriors, who have been protecting America for 50 years.

To any terrorist thinking of attacking the United States or its citizens: You are no match for our nation's silent superheroes. Whether by air, land, or sea, they are always ready to administer justice, and you'll never see them coming.

Oh we can beat them
For ever and ever
Then we can be heroes
Just for one day

Image courtesy: Petty Officer 2nd Class Anthony Harding

America Needed Them

File image courtesy: U.S. Marine Corps

After six U.S. Marines were killed in a Jan. 19 helicopter crash in Afghanistan's Helmand province, it's difficult to write anything that will put such a devastating loss in perspective. The best way to honor these remarkable men, in my opinion, is to focus on who they were.

Capt. Daniel Bartle, 27, Ferndale, Washington

According to The Seattle Times, Capt. Bartle graduated at the top of his high school class before being accepted to the United States Naval Academy, where he studied electrical engineering. Bartle, who leaves behind his parents and two siblings, was one of the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter's pilots.

Capt. Nathan McHone, 29, Crystal Lake, Illinois

Capt. McHone was on his second deployment to Afghanistan with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363, or the "Red Lions," as the Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii-based Marines are nicknamed. According to the Northwest Herald, McHone was in the Marine Corps for more than six years. He was piloting the helicopter with McHone when it crashed. No cause has been formally identified, although NATO has said there was no apparent enemy activity in the area when the helicopter crashed.

MSgt. Travis Riddick, 40, Centerville, Iowa

The Marine Corps was what Master Sgt. Riddick knew and loved. But nothing was more important to this warrior than his wife and six children, including one who serves in the U.S. Coast Guard. The Des Moines Register reports that Riddick joined the military in 1990 and had served on three deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. According to the article, he was only about "four or five weeks" from beginning his journey home.

Cpl. Jesse Stites, 23, North Beach, Maryland

According to a press release issued by Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Cpl. Stites enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2008 and was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. The decorated Marine hero leaves behind his wife.

Cpl. Kevin Reinhard, 25, Colonia, N.J.

Kathleen Reinhard hoped for a call on her birthday from her brother and only sibling, Cpl. Reinhard. As she explained to The Daily Record in New Jersey, the call never came.

"He was my best friend," Kathleen, 27, told the newspaper. "We were very, very close. He was my confidant."

Reinhard, who had only a few weeks remaining on his second deployment to Afghanistan, also leaves behind his parents.

Cpl. Joseph Logan, 22, Willis, Texas

Cpl. Logan's mother, Deborah, told The Houston Chronicle that her son conquered a serious arm injury to become a Marine.

"He had lots of surgeries and he overcame it and he brought himself back because that was his love: He wanted to be a Marine," she told the newspaper.

Logan leaves behind his parents, wife, and siblings. While the pain being experienced by the Willis family and loved ones of the five heroes their son died alongside cannot be imagined, perhaps what they were doing in Afghanistan will provide some comfort.

"They went in when the Marines on the ground were in trouble," his mother told the paper. "They went in and got them out."

I believe that everyone is put on earth with a purpose. Whether we choose to fulfill that purpose is up to us. When it comes to these Marines, there is no doubt which path they chose.

"These men were not only experienced Marines, but they were husbands, sons, brothers and dear friends," 1st Lt. Diann Olson, spokesman for Marine Corps Base Hawaii, said. "The memories of our fallen Marines are engraved in each and every one who had the privilege to know and serve alongside them, and we will never forget the sacrifice they made to our country and our Corps."

America needed these Marines to repeatedly step up during a time of war. Now, with their missions complete, perhaps God needs them to patrol the skies of heaven. They kept others safe in life, and in death, their honorable legacies still shield us from the darkness.

File image courtesy: Pfc. Andrew Johnston

Fathers and Sons

Image courtesy: U.S. Air Force/Roland Balik

Almost every American sports fan has heard of Hickory, Ind., which was immortalized in the 1986 film "Hoosiers." Yet many who recite the movie's unforgettable lines think Hickory actually exists. It doesn't, although some real-life towns come close.

The northern Indiana town of Hamlet is about 100 miles from New Richmond, where most of "Hoosiers" was filmed. Like the fictional community that Hickory High unites on its way to an improbable men's basketball state championship, Hamlet is tiny, with just 300 households full of fathers and sons who love Indiana sports.

Spc. Robert Tauteris III just returned to the Hoosier State from Afghanistan, where he was serving with the 713th Engineer Company of the Indiana National Guard. Instead of a welcome home celebration, though, the 22-year-old soldier came back to the United States for a Jan. 8 dignified transfer ceremony.

The soldier escorted the flag-draped casket carrying his father, Spc. Robert Tauteris Jr., home from Afghanistan. On Jan. 6, alongside Staff Sgt. Jonathan Metzger, 32, Spc. Christopher Patterson, 20, and Spc. Brian Leonhardt, 21, the elder Tauteris, 44, was killed by an improvised explosive device planted in the volatile Kandahar Province, according to the Pentagon.

Surrounded by his family, the grieving son spoke to reporters on Jan. 11. Quotes from the news conference are provided by WSBT-TV reporter Clifton French, an Iraq war veteran.

"It was an honor being able to escort my father and the other fallen soldiers home from Afghanistan," Tauteris said. "It's something I'll never forget, and I'm more honored to do that than I have been to do many things in my life."

Long before the father and son served together in Afghanistan, the younger Robert and his brother, Matthew, looked up to their dad.

"He stood up as our boy scout leader from the time we were very young to being too old to be in boy scouts," the soldier said.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, stood and saluted in the darkness of Delaware's Dover Air Force Base as fellow troops carried each flag-draped casket onto the soil of the nation they died for. Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger, adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard, called on Americans to recognize the enormous sacrifices still being made in Afghanistan.

"We have no more solemn obligation than rendering the proper respect, honor, and tribute to these faithful warriors and to provide the fullest possible support to their families during this difficult time," Maj. Gen. Umbarger said.

Tauteris reminded reporters that while his dad was a dedicated soldier after enlisting at age 40, he was a father, first and foremost.

"I can't stress enough how much he cared about me and my brother," the soldier said. "It was the most important thing to him; it was like his meaning in life was to be a father."

America's post-9/11 conflicts have touched many fathers and sons. In May 2010, Chief Warrant Officer Michael McHugh boarded a plane in Iraq, where he was deployed, to meet the flag-draped casket of his father, Col. John McHugh, 46, who had been killed alongside four fellow troops in Afghanistan.

Just days after Col. McHugh's death, the Kansas City Royals honored the fallen hero by asking his grieving son to throw out the first pitch before a home game.

"I lost my best friend," Chief Warrant Officer McHugh wrote to the Unknown Soldiers in 2010. "The first pitch at Kauffman Stadium was such an honor, and we're grateful to the Royals for doing that for our family."

Like Michael McHugh, Robert Tauteris III is an American soldier — but also a son who lost his dad.

"He is a hero," Spc. Tauteris III said of his father. "I think what made him who he is ... is how much he cared about his children and his family."

One of the most touching moments in "Hoosiers" comes when Hickory's assistant coach, played by Dennis Hopper, is thrust into leading the team after the head coach, played by Gene Hackman, is ejected. After the play he drew up wins the game in dramatic fashion, he is approached by a player who is also his son.

"You did good, pop," he said. "You did real good."

COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM

Image courtesy: Sgt. John Crosby

Evil Does Exist

Image courtesy: Sgt. Laura Bonano

One of the most troubling aspects of the decline in America's interest in the war our troops are fighting overseas is the unwillingness for certain segments of American society -- namely some members of the national media -- to acknowledge that every day on the battlefield, our forces are confronting evil men.

A stark reminder was offered Thursday by a group of cowardly Taliban terrorists in Kandahar, Afghanistan. According to the BBC, at least seven civilians were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his car near the crucial southern city's airport. According to Afghan officials cited in the article, two victims of the terrorist attack were children.

There is nothing more despicable and horrifying than the murder of a child. The Taliban and al Qaeda don't give a second thought to butchering even the most innocent people on earth.

A day earlier, dozens of Afghans and also an unidentified number of coalition troops were killed and wounded when a terrorist blew himself up in a busy Helmand province marketplace. A young Afghan victim is pictured above. Gen. John R. Allen, the tough-as-nails Marine who commands the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, immediately condemned the disgraceful attack.

"This latest act of violence further confirms that the insurgency has declared outright war on the people of Afghanistan and will stop at nothing to continue to use terrorism and intimidation to advance their own malign and selfish ends," Gen. Allen said. "ISAF will continue to partner with the Afghan National Security Forces to eliminate this scourge and hold the perpetrators accountable."

Every American should share in the general's outrage about the Taliban's assault on freedom and innocent life. I hope every terrorist responsible for helping plan these attacks is hunted down, captured, or killed.

File image courtesy: Lance Cpl. Robert Carrasco

On Thursday, six U.S. Marines were reportedly killed when a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter like the one pictured above crashed in Helmand province. The Unknown Soldiers will continue to follow this tragic story as we extend our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of these fallen Marines.

On Sunday, also in Helmand province, two Marines were killed in action while conducting combat operations against the Taliban.

Cpl. Jon-Luke Bateman, 22, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Lance Cpl. Kenneth Cochran, 20, Wilder, Idaho

It is a tragedy that Cpl. Bateman, who is pictured below on the left, and Lance Cpl. Cochran, right, only lived 42 years between them. But America is extremely fortunate to blessed with heroes like these. They understood -- far better than you or me -- that there is a serious threat to our way of life. But unlike 99% of our population, they volunteered to do something about it.

At this hour in Oklahoma, Idaho, and around the country, families and friends are saying goodbye to some of the best citizens our country has to offer. At this hour in Afghanistan, their brothers and sisters in arms continue the fight against men who intentionally slaughter children in a hopeless effort to advance their corrupt, bankrupt ideology of hate.

Real evil does exist. But fortunately for America and the world, real heroes exist too.

Images courtesy: Facebook/U.S. Marine Corps