Editor's note: Help us honor Iraq era veterans

President Barack Obama will address the nation tonight, formally ending the United States' combat role in Iraq.

The president, by all accounts, will be careful not to roll out the "Mission Accomplished" banner that dogged President George Bush for years.

More than 40,000 troops will remain in Iraq as trainers and advisers, though they are not supposed to be involved in direct military operations.

That's fine to say, but as long as they are wearing U.S. uniforms, they will be targets to some disgruntled Iraqi terrorists. U.S. casualties are no doubt on the decline, but Americans are afraid there will still be some bad news coming from Iraq.

The Iraq War has created divisions in the United States over the last eight years. But for those of us who lived through the Vietnam era and the saw the sharp divisions it caused, there have been hopeful signs.

During Vietnam, U.S. soldiers were ridiculed and worse by war opponents as "baby-killers" because they voluntarily and otherwise answered the call of their country.

Those who opposed the way were slammed as "pinkos" and "communists" because thy opposed the Johnson and Nixon policies.

The discourse this time has been somewhat more restrained. The soldiers, sailors and Marines who took part in the Iraq War should be honored for their service by all Americans, not just those who agreed with the policy that send them.

Montana has had its share of people who have been sent to Iraq, including the local National Guard unit whose members put their lives on hold, left their families and neighbors and answered their country's call.

And these have been many Hi-Line residents who enlisted in the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force in Iraq.

We at the Havre Daily News would like to pay tribute those who served our country during the Iraq War era.

A lot of brave people went to Iraq. Others were summoned to Afghanistan. Still others served stateside or in foreign countries defending our way of life.

If you, a family member or a friend took part in the effort over the last seven years, we hope you will help us pay tribute to those who served.

We will run photos and brief profiles of Hi-Line residents who served during the Iraq War era.

We would like pictures taken in Iraq possible, but any kind of photo would be welcome.

Please send us the name, rank, hometown, branch of service and unit of the military personnel. Let us know where the person served and when. A little bit about what they did would be great. Let us know what the person is doing now. And please leave a phone number or e-mail address where we can contact you for further information.

And, by all means, let us know about those who stayed behind — loved ones, such as spouses, children and parents.

You can get the information to us in three ways:

• E-mail it to [email protected],
• Mail it to P.O. Box 431, Havre, MT 59501,
• Drop it off at our office, 119 2nd St., Havre.
• We will run these photos and brief profiles on our Community pages in the coming weeks.

  We think this will help the community be aware of the sacrifices people have made for our country.

  Thanks for your help.

  (John Kelleher is managing editor of the Havre Daily News, http://www.havredailynews.com and http://www.facebook.com/havredailynews.)