Thank you, soldier.

War is hell. I didn't make up the phrase but I believe it. Everything I've ever seen or read about soldiers in combat bears up the point that war is a sickening nightmare of human suffering. War is a series of unbearable tragedies for the people who are merely trying to survive it.

Because of the toll of human anguish many people would never choose war. They may believe that war is evil. They may believe that sending young men and women into a war is unconscionable. They would not choose war, ever.

War is necessary. If a nation is to exist that nation must be willing to fight to maintain her sovereignty. This is true because the world is full of envy, jealousy, lust for power and all forms of evil. Evil exists and it motivates people to do horrible things. When evil people hold the reigns of power they make war necessary.

I would be glad if this were not true. I hate the thought of my friends, my sons, my countrymen losing their lives in a war. I hate the thought of the suffering and misery of the soldiers (even the enemy's). But I love my country more. I don't want to give even one life but if that's what is required then I'll give it. I understand that the sacrifices of the few make possible the great blessings of the many. My country still stands for freedom, opportunity, equality, liberty and justice. These are worth war.

Nathan Hale said it two hundred years ago when he said, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." In the face of evil that would work to undo all that my country holds dear we see the sacrificial warriors, the soldiers who stand in the gap and do battle on our behalf. Nathan Hale didn't create the idea behind his famous quote. He borrowed it from John 15:13 when John spoke of the original and best example of sacrificial giving. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."