This weekend I lost a friend who meant a great deal to me.
This drew my attention to the 100 American heroes who lost their life in Iraq over the past few weeks. Every time a friend or a family member dies unexpectedly, we feel a great sense of loss. It is often overwhelming to those of us who are still around. But the totality of a loss, when 100 young soldiers are killed in combat, is often swept under the rug when all we do is read numbers in the newspaper.
For those of us who support this war and believe it was one of the most noble American efforts since the Marshall plan, it is important for us to look into the eyes of those young Americans who gave their all, and understand the price that their parents, their wives, their husbands and their children have paid to make America safer by fighting to bring freedom to a land that has only known terror, hatred, and death. These are the fallen heroes who are building a new world for Iraq and for all of us.
The fact they lived and died as heroes doesn‘t lessen the anguish that their loved ones are feeling tonight. And to the family of those men and women serving overseas, especially those who expected joyous homecomings this week only to learn that their loved ones are going to be staying in Iraq for another three months, all of us at SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY send you our thoughts and prayers. May God be with your sons and daughters, your husbands and your wives, your moms and your dads.
Joe Scarborough hosts Scarborough Country on MSNBC. The show airs Sunday through Thursday, 10 p.m. ET.