Oct. 17, three American soldiers are killed in Iraq trying to negotiate with an angry mob. Oct. 19, two more U.S. soldiers are killed when their patrol was attacked near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

The constant flow of this sad state of affairs has unfortunately become a sickening trend in the last few months. Day after day more and more of our soldiers are being killed.

No matter what one’s opinion is about the justification of this war, it is disheartening and unsettling to say the least when we constantly hear about our fellow Americans being slain each and every day.

As members of the University, we oftentimes forget that many of these soldiers are just as young if not younger than the student body. The soldiers who are dying in Iraq are not just grizzled veterans and career military men, but are largely made up of college-age (18-to 22-year-old) men and women who feel called to serve and protect their country.

As we walk to our morning class, they mobilize along with their battalion to secure a hostile area. As we drive to the movies, they travel in a tank through some Iraqi slum only to be repeatedly shot at.

The leaders of our country must remind us constantly of the sacrifice our soldiers are making. Too often have the American people become forgetful and complacent. Just because we hear about deaths every single day does not mean that we should become dulled to the loss we are enduring.

Many of our soldiers do not agree as to why we are in Iraq, but they persevere and are committed to protecting the American people in any way that they can.

Not only do they deserve our respect and support but they also deserve our grief when even a single one of them falls.