i spend a lot of time questioning the motives of politicians, dictators, and military commanders, but the men and women they send to their deaths are another story all together. whether they go because it is their duty, or because they believe the cause is just, or out of patriotism, they deserve our respect, compassion, and gratitude. on this memorial day let us all vow to work for a world in which sending our best and brightest to die young is an unthinkable option.