I sit here in comfort, writing about fictional soldiers and playing first-person shooters. Meanwhile, real, flesh-and-blood people duck behind rocks to avoid rockets.

War — the real thing — isn’t cute. It isn’t funny. It’s not glamorous. If it were in theaters, you wouldn’t want to watch it.

Generations of citizens have fought to make sure we have the right to buy and sell, believe and practice how we want. For that matter, they’ve fought for the rights of people we don’t even know; sometimes, people we don’t even like.

The reason you’re free is that someone else died. It’s a Christlike sacrifice, tremendous and selfless.

What are you doing with the freedom they bought for you?

You know a soldier, or a soldier’s family. Maybe you know someone who didn’t make it home. Remember them today. Remember what they bought, and how much they paid.

Hooah.