In San Francisco, the city council is proposing eliminating the junior ROTC in schools. That is the absolute WRONG thing to do. I know they have their reasons, but there is too little patriotism in the this country today. Far too few children are encouraged by their doting parents to do something selfless and join the armed forces. It goes beyond Iraq and the moral opposition people have to it. It's about defending the rights of all Americans to live in the best country in the world. It's about thinking about country first and self second.

Heroes come in many different forms. My brother, Drew, has been with Army intelligence since the '80s. My brother-in-law, Dan, is with the CIA and is stationed somewhere in the Middle East (we're not allowed to know). His wife and my sister, Julia, was in the FBI and worked through cancer and a pregnancy to help protect other mothers from their abusers. It's all the things they miss. It's all the times and events they are away for, to help others in their time of need. It's not just about the tuition assistance or the sign-on bonuses. It's about the sense of pride in country, in doing what should be everyone's duty: to protect this country. If we love her like we say we do, we should honor her.