He talked how Americans take their freedoms for granted; how fear hobbles the occasional uprising among Iranian college students. Mostly he talked about his cancer diagnosis and how much more he appreciated his freedoms now that he had but a year or two to live.

He was precisely the sort of person our servicemen and servicewomen are attempting to protect. So on that level, it makes sense why we are in Iraq.

But the story is still unfolding. Perhaps history will treat President Bush as a forward-thinking hero. Or he will be painted as a hawkish cowboy who should have done a lot more research and soul searching before sending young men and women into harm's way in the Middle East.

I do not believe any commander in chief takes lightly the decision to deploy our military into combat. But I wonder why there is not more outrage from Americans over a conflict with no end in sight. It's obviously different from Vietnam because the draft was in effect and everyone — aside from those who could finagle deferments — had to go. The 58,249 names on Vietnam War Memorial represent a cross-section of the nation.

Now, military service is voluntary. Perhaps that is why we don't have the same sensibilities about the war. Or that we don't take it to heart because the average Americans haven't sacrificed much at all since the war started in 2003.

I've now met one young man who has paid a significant price for the war. Because of him, I no longer have the luxury of thinking about the war in Iraq in an abstract way. For that, I am grateful.

---

Marjorie Cortez, whose recent trip to Washington, D.C., also included a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where the headstones of men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation go on as far as the eye can see, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. E-mail her at marjorie@desnews.com