Once again, American men and women are out there, very far from home, protecting the freedoms that make this country the greatest on the planet. These freedoms that you and I enjoy everyday, often with little regard for their cost. The men and women of the armed services of the United States have long known not only the cost of protecting these freedoms, but also their worth. What exactly is freedom worth? For the vast majority of us living in this country, we've never had to consider that question. Freedom's worth? It's hard to put a price on freedom, especially when most have us have never known anything but freedom. In my lifetime, I've never known anything but freedom - it's something so easily taken for granted that it's almost shameful. Like anything else, it only becomes important and it's worth can only be understood in the reality of those freedoms being taken away. And that, my friends, is a reality that we are unlikely to know in our lifetimes because our fellow Americans in the armed forces are right now showing us that they know what these freedoms cost and they know what these freedoms are worth. They are paying for our freedoms with their blood. They are paying for our freedoms with selfless dedication. They are paying for our freedoms with their lives.

There are so many different threats to our freedoms that it would likely boggle our minds if we were fully aware of each and every one. If we did know, we might not sleep so soundly at night. We might hug our loved ones more frequently and a little tighter each time. We might not be able to do our jobs properly. We might not be able to enjoy so many of the things we enjoy every day. But it's these brave and dedicated men and women who are spread all over the planet giving up their lives - most just temporarily and some permanently - that allow us to do all these things. Basically, they are the ones who, both now and for hundreds of years prior, are putting it all on the line so we can enjoy our freedoms. They know the cost as they are paying it. They know the worth as they have seen first hand what it is like in countries where freedom doesn't exist. As these photos show, they have seen their brothers bloodied in battles on foreign soil, they have seen the tragedies of war...and they have given up their freedoms and their lives thousands of miles from home for us.

Dear Lord, we humbly ask that you watch over all the men and women of this country that risk their lives now and in the future for our freedom and the freedom of their fellow human beings all over this planet. We ask that You guide them in their actions and their decisions and that You give them Your strength and protect them with Your loving arms. For those who pay the ultimate price Lord, we ask that You hold and comfort their fellow soldiers and all those that love them that they have left behind. In Your name, we pray.

It's impossible for me to imagine what it must be like to be thousands of miles from home fighting for my life. And it's only impossible for me to imagine because there are thousands of American men and women who know exactly what it's like because they are doing it right now. Whether or not we agree with why they are there seems so insignificant.....

Tim Surgent