As we begin this school year, it’s important we remember those who are not here to enjoy the beauty of another Wisconsin fall. Today, many great Americans, undoubtedly even some fellow students, find themselves serving their nation in far away places while wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army.

It’s because of these extraordinary individuals that all of us have the choice to do as we please. We can head back to the classroom, head to the voting booth or, if we have graduated, begin careers. We can do anything we want or, unfortunately, nothing at all, sitting back while others do things for us.

This fall, we all have the choice to pursue the equal opportunity guaranteed to us by the ink of our Constitution and by the blood of our veterans. It’s imperative we never forget it.

So, as this school year begins and as another Veteran’s Day approaches, what can we do to say thank you? Well, the best thing we can do is support our men and women in uniform. They do not need nor want us to sit home making political hay of the horrors they face; they also do not need nor want us to sit and pity their ordeals.

However, that’s what many do, because it’s so much easier than giving them what they really need: appreciation, love and prayers, as well as gratitude for all the great work they are doing. It’s important to remember that each and every airman, Marine, sailor and soldier serving is a volunteer fully aware of the commitment they undertook; they do not need our pity.

Since our nation’s founding, these volunteers have given so much and asked for so very little in return.

Our servicemen and women in Iraq are no different. In fact, I will advance the notion that the framework they are currently attempting to set forth in that troubled region is as important as the efforts entrusted to our soldiers in post-World War II.

Those not there may say as they please concerning America’s business in Iraq, but I know that for more than 200 years, the United States has been in the business of exporting freedom to those in the world unable to break the chains of tyranny.

Last year, I served my own time in the Middle East with the U.S. Army. Not long after the war had begun and Iraq had been liberated, I was on a convoy to Baghdad and had the opportunity to see firsthand the results of America’s willingness to intervene when others in the world refused to do so.

Driving across the Kuwait-Iraq border was like stepping through a portal in time to the 19th century. The oppressed villagers of southern Iraq existed in what could only be described as squalor. I saw the beleaguered looks on the faces of those malnourished and sick living in sun-baked mud huts and dressed in rags. Yet, upon seeing our vehicles, the villagers of Safwan flooded into the roadway to greet new American friends. Waving, cheering and blowing kisses of gratitude, they welcomed and appreciated us as only an oppressed people living under the iron might of a dictator could.

Quite frankly, they appreciated us so much more than many in America do today. In that instant, I knew our sacrifices were justified and our cause was noble.

And while it’s true some in Iraq do not appreciate America’s intervention, no person can convince me America’s troops are occupiers rather than liberators. As we have done so many times before – from Europe to the south Pacific, from Kuwait to Afghanistan – America has given the people of Iraq an opportunity to realize the greatest gift God has bestowed upon us: freedom and the responsibilities inherent to free will. They only now need to reach out to what we have placed in front of them, seize it and claim it as their own.

It’s because of our airmen, Marines, sailors and soldiers and their dedication to duty, their love of the country and their compassion toward fellow human beings, both American and not, that we are able to enjoy the lives we enjoy today.

As Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., recently said in a speech to the Republican National Convention, “Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don’t just give freedom abroad; they preserve it for us here at home. For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn the flag.”

So, as we sit in our classes safe and cozy in our security and complacency, let us not forget the soldier who has made doing so possible.

When we see an elderly gentleman wearing a World War II hat, let us not forgo the opportunity to take him by the hand, look into his eyes and thank him for his service.

And when we feel the relative stress of a difficult exam or assignment, let us not forget the soldier serving in the sweltering sands of Iraq or in the frigid mountains of Afghanistan, for it’s he and his service to his community, his nation and the world who we must truly appreciate, respect and support in any way we can.