Cpl Nelson's "Shadowbox"

"...believe what you want. That is your right as Americans. But I am telling you, there are no heroes on any football fields, basketball courts or halls of government. There are honorable and decent people all over America. However, the heroes are on the battlefields of Iraq. Suffering, killing and dying that others might live, and live in freedom. Americans free from terror, Iraqis free from oppression and tyranny. 

I will not profess glory of battle or any other such hype. I will profess duty and sacrifice. Our fallen show us all true duty and ultimate sacrifice.

I have no doubt that the instant they die, they are whisked to heaven on the wings of Angels and placed before the unapproachable light of Jesus, who himself said: 'greater love hath no man, than a man lay down his life for his friends.' " John 15:13    

- Colonel Smith (October 2004)