America’s veterans make great sacrifices to fight in wars overseas. Regardless of how anyone feels about war, none can deny the choices these troops face are hard ones to make.

It takes a special kind of person to leave behind a family to fight for his or her country. Our men and women in uniform are constantly giving up time with their families to be in a desert and get shot at.

We should all be thankful there are so many men and women who are willing to do these things.

The Hawkeye would like to take this time to salute all of our veterans here at ULM and across the country. It’s your dedication and sacrifice that helps to make this country great. We all appreciate what you’ve done and continue to do.

Veterans like John Loomis, Brandon Wade and Jon-Erik Miletello, and all those like them, should all be honored. Each of these veterans-turned-students deserve respect.

 Miletello came home with a stress disorder due to his service.

Loomis’ truck blew up.

Wade talked about how someone once spit at him. While that person had every right to disagree, Wade deserves as much respect as any other human being.

These guys are just three of the millions of veterans and active duty military.

No one likes war, and the troops that fight in them want the wars to end as soon as possible. It’s not fair to blame the troops for the doings of politicians.

We appreciate our veterans and active duty troops, but do our politicians, who so easily send them into war?

Our veterans’ lives are valuable. Shouldn’t we be more careful about where we send them?

In the 236 years  our country has been around, 215 of those years have been spent on war. We have only had 21 years of peace in the United States

The U.S. military is the most extensive military in the history of the world. Ever since World War II, the U.S. has built bases from Iraq to Ecuador.

Those are just two of the more than 150 countries the U.S. has military bases in.

We send our men and women out of the country and many die. These are people who will never return to their families. We should be certain beyond a doubt that the reason we send them overseas is for the protection of our country

The Hawkeye wishes all of the soldiers could come home. But some don’t make it.

Every life is valuable. Nevermind the politics of it all. The simple fact to remember is that our troops give their time and energy to the service of their country.

These troops are mothers and fathers. They’re someone’s son or daughter; brother or sister.

Don’t you think we should give them at least a little thought before engaging in full battle?

We should all honor  those who do return home. These men and women gave up a large part of their lives to fight for the country. The least we can do is show them a little respect.