Staff Report
As the last U.S. troops leave Iraq, the nation will debate whether the almost nine years of U.S. involvement there was worth the expense in lives and money. While such public give and take is to be expected — and healthy in a free society — it should not distract the nation from expressing its gratitude to the men and women in the U.S. military who sacrificed so much to carry out U.S. policy in Iraq.
That’s especially true of the 4,484 U.S. service members who gave their lives to win freedom for the Iraqi people.
According to the Military Times web site, 76 Alabamians are among those who gave their lives as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (To see photos and brief biographies on those who died, go to montgomeryadvertiser.com, click on Opinion, then click on “Honor the Fallen.”)
