Meanwhile, back at the war

Our all voluntary military has a saying.

The military is at war. America is at the mall.

We've forgotten about Iraq. It is no longer newsworthy.

Yet, while we are in withdrawal, we still have 90,000 of our best in that theater.

And, they are still being shot at and attacked by bombs. But it isn't newsworthy.

In Afghanistan, we have been thrilled by the attack on Marja and the apparent success there.

But we have thousands of soldiers in other isolated parts of that country that are not being followed by reporters. They are freezing their asses off in the mountains. They are sleeping in caves and mortar holes when they can.

Somehow, we in America have come to believe that Iraq and Afghanistan are solved.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

We cannot imagine the hard work that our Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard are doing to manage the situations there.

From Generals to Privates, they are overwhelmed with issues.

And somehow, we don't get the message. We don't appreciate their sacrifice.

Here's a sobering statistic.

During the month of January, more of our soldiers in theater committed suicide (24) than were killed by enemy forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (16).

There's a message there.

We send our best and brightest to the harshest situations in the world. And then most of us forget them.

We can't do that.

We just have to do better.

We need those men and women to know that regardless of our views of the war or our political persuasion or our religious views, we support them.

Those men and women wear the cloth of the nation. The cloth of our nation.

As divided and confused as we might be, those men and women follow the direction of our Commander in Chief.

When these men and women volunteer to join the military, they write a check with their lives. Payable up to their dying for us if necessary.

We can't forget them.

We can't let them serve without our support.

These are not their wars.

These are our wars.

Sometime soon, with the help of the Good Lord and some talented friends, we are going to launch a website called Cloth of the Nation.

It will be designed to connect civilian America with military America. A place to say thanks to those who serve. And a place for those who serve to see how many of us support them.

In the meantime, love on those who serve.

And for those who serve, we love you.

You are doing our dirty work.

We will never forget your service, sacrifice and love of this great country.