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THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: May 23, 2009

While everyone is enjoying the three-day Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start to the summer travel and leisure season, we hope they will take a moment to reflect on the real purpose of the holiday formerly known as Decoration Day: Honoring the men and women who have lost their lives while members of the nation's military.

Memorial Day 2009 sees the United States poised to withdraw its military units from the major cities of Iraq under the terms of a deal with the Iraqi government, which wants its military to assume more of a role. Not surprisingly, a wave of terror bombings mainly targeting Iraqi civilians has erupted in recent days. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, who ran for the White House pledging to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, is ramping up American military presence in Afghanistan in response to military gains by an increasingly resurgent Taliban.

Many Americans remain ambivalent about the wisdom of these foreign military involvements. U.S. military personnel, however, continue to do what they always have done, putting their lives in danger despite any personal misgivings of this sort because the nation has called on them to do so.

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