My stepfather served in WWII with the 101st. Jumped at Normandy, was at the Battle of the Bulge, and like so many other vets - never spoke of what he did, but never forgot either. He had a fit when I decided to join the Air Force because he knew the horrors of war. Still I always admired him as a 17 yr old from the streets of Chicago who lied about his age to get into WWII after Pearl Harbor and volunteered for one of the toughest outfits that served. But I found out in Iraq that there is no romance, just work to be done. You do your job, fly your mission as safely as possible, think about returning home in one piece. But he was right, serving in a war does leave its mark. (For weeks after returning home I couldn't watch video I took flying into Baghdad because it brought back the stress of looking for SAMs and small arms fire.) No, there's no romance...that's for the movies...but every war has a similar thread...common people called to do an uncommon job. The heros serving in Iraq and Afgahnistan now are just like those brave souls that served in WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, and Desert Storm. And as it was before - so it is now. They come from many countries, various walks of life, wear the uniforms of their homeland proudly and serve with unmistakeable pride and determination. Their service is truely heroic and has my utmost admiration.