By Staff
Our View
With the Presidential election soon upon us, and the race for it in full swing, military service, or the lack of it, or the embellishment of it, has become a hot button among issue between the candidates and their camps.
While Sen. John Kerry and President Bush question each other about military service, there is no question about the service of our local men and women currently serving in Iraq. Each man and woman involved with Company A of the 711th Signal Battalion is overseas fulfilling an oath made to their country.
Many took that oath years ago, in peacetime, when they first joined the national guard. They may have thought they would never be asked to serve overseas in a dangerous country.
Others, like Sgt. J.C. Mitchell took that oath and upheld it in the Vietnam War and continue today with the 711th. Knowing the cost of war, perhaps they hoped, not that they would not be called, but that America would never need the services of its armed forces to defend freedom from tyranny.
No matter their reasons, no matter their desires, they answered when called.
What they do now is something that they can be proud of and for which they should be thanked. Whether you are in support of the war or not, these soldiers, men and women who sacrificed of themselves, should be thanked and supported.
It seems to many people like an eternity but in fact, the heroes of the 711th are getting close to a half way point in their deployment. The middle of this month marked six months that our heroes have been gone. In their absence they are missed and thought of often. Continue to keep the soldiers, their family and their friends in your prayers. Company A, we miss you.