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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Editorial: Help Welcome Back Soldiers

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    Very few things are more gut-wrenching than seeing your child or spouse off to war— which makes their return that much more sweet.
    About 150 members of A Company, 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry of the New Mexico National Guard returned home from Iraq last week. The unit is based out of Rio Rancho, but some of its members are sons and daughters of the Estancia Valley and East Mountains.
    Members of the unit were in Iraq for 10 months and were treated to a special party in Rio Rancho. The town of Mountainair is holding its own celebration March 16 for its four returning guardsmen.
    There will always be debate over this war and about the people who are serving in it. Only history will determine who is right and who is wrong. But this fact remains: this country is embroiled in a foreign war and soldiers are being sent to fight it. The passion of the debate of whether this war is a just cause should not let up. All sides need a voice.
    But in that cacophony of debate, it is the citizen soldiers that become forgotten. We should not only welcome them home, but take care to heed the lessons of previous generations of returning soldiers.
    We should never forget their service to our country.