I love my family. I love being only an hour away from them and getting to see them as much as I want. I love that on Wednesday I get to go home and spend a lovely five days in my old home. Five days of being revered by my parents. Five days to reconnect with lost friends and family. Five days to just relax.

Imagine how free you will be in those five days. No matter if it’s getting a laptop for a dollar on Black Friday or gorging yourself on a whole pumpkin pie, you are free to do what your heart desires. However, it’s important to remember there are some citizens who will be out of these luxuries this holiday.

There are thousands of troops overseas right now, either stationed at a base or fighting in the Middle East, who will not get to hug their mothers and fathers on Thursday. They won’t get to share a beer with their brothers and sisters because they are too busy serving their country.

Like most families (I assume), my family has been known to go around the table and say what they are thankful for. There is not a strong enough word for my admiration and thanks for our troops. How can you accurately thank someone who gives up his family for liberty? Though I love being in this democratic state, I kind of like my family more. It’s why I hold their devotion in such high regard.

For the 951st Engineering Company of Rhinelander that came home Saturday, spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Wisconsin just became a reality. They will also be bringing home 15 Purple Hearts, the most of any Wisconsin unit since 2004. According to the Wisconsin National Guard website, the 951st has been on a 10 month tour in Afghanistan where they endured heavy combat. Sgt. Ryan Adams was killed in action Oct. 2 by a rocket-propelled grenade. Four other members of the unit were sent home due to the severity of their injuries. They completed over 250 missions in Afghanistan.

Each unit of the Wisconsin National Guard has been deployed to fight the global war on terror since Sept. 11, 2001. There are approximately 3,500 soldiers of Wisconsin in action currently around the world, 3,200 of which won’t return until January of next year.

But in a recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal, veteran care centers in Wisconsin are unsure how their efforts will be tested when all 3,200 soldiers come home in January. Soldiers who return from combat without physical injury are still at risk for psychological injury. With still no cure for illnesses like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, these care centers are desperately trying to find help for these soldiers. As state guard Director of Psychological Health Robert Evans noted, ” It takes (the soldiers) a good seven, eight months to return to civilian life.”

Considering all the physical and emotional stress, there needs to be a reason, a point to the continued action. Maybe I am ignorant and can’t see why this war is important. Maybe it just breaks my heart to see men and women of my generation killed outside their country, for their country. Maybe because I don’t have the balls to do what they do, I just don’t understand. Regardless of why, I know their decision to enter the military is commendable. In this day, it’s a miracle that we still have young men and women who can think outside themselves and believe in something bigger. It’s a miracle that we have such a proud nation. But I am finding it harder to be proud of this nation as we continue to see men and women injured with that uniform on.

I am so thankful for the 951st. I hope this was their last tour of duty. I am so happy for their families and give condolences to the Adams family. I am thankful for Sgt. Ryan Adams. I am thankful for all our troops who decide to put their country on their shoulders.

So as I sit on my couch on Thursday, eating a bowl of my mother’s decadent cranberry-orange relish, I will be thinking of how lucky I am to have my whole family around me. And I will also be thinking about those who don’t.

I want everyone on Thanksgiving to think about how much respect and admiration our soldiers deserve (and I am not talking about the 30 seconds Fox airs at each commercial break during football). I want everyone to do something for our troops on Thanksgiving, whether it be a prayer or a handshake and “thank you” to a past, present or future soldier. Just do something. I am thankful for many things in this world, but I am so thankful for our soldiers.

Zach Day ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism.