This is my husband Franklin as he leaves for his third deployment to the Middle East. Frank's been to the "big sandbox" three times. His first deployment was as an active duty Marine with the Third Marine regiment in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield from 1990-1991. His second deployment was as with the Hawaii National Guard as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The second deployment was for the entire year of 2005. This third deployment will again take him back to Iraq and hopefully it will be his last.

The most stressful part of the deployment for him is making sure that the young men that he is in charge of come back safe to their families. Some of them were with him in 2005, but there are many new soldiers that haven't experienced war and all the stresses that come with their participation. As a leader, he feels a strong sense of responsibility for his young troops to make sure that they are properly trained and prepared for any situation that they will face.

He is my hero. He doesn't complain about the reasons why the US is there, just a sense of patriotism to serve his country and perform the missions required of him and his unit. If he can make the sacrifice of putting his life on the line, I can make sure that our family is taken care of. That is one less thing that he will have to worry about.

Thank you to all that have served in the past and those that continue to serve to preserve the American way of life. Thank you also to the families behind those men and women because they are equally important in the mission.