This is what real men are made of

Thank God men like this one exist and are out there defending us around the world in places we will never have to see or smell.

I'll do my duty - Commentary - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "Joe Baxter was surprised when he reported for annual drill with his National Guard unit in Macon, Ga., last May. 'We've been activated,' he was told. 'We're going to Iraq.'

A truck driver in civilian life, Sgt. Baxter had been a weapons instructor and served on the officers training staff of the 122nd ROC (Rear Operations Center) of the Georgia National Guard. But he had recently moved to Biloxi, Miss., where he had planned to be married in September and transfer to a National Guard unit near his new home. Instead, he and Barbara moved their wedding up to June, just a few weeks before he had to ship out.

By the end of the summer, Sgt. Baxter was in a strange land in the middle of a war with no front line, a war where ambushes and roadside bombs are a minute-to-minute reality. He had just returned from a patrol in Mosul when he learned Hurricane Katrina had devastated the Gulf Coast around Biloxi." read more

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