Last week, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst penned a column decrying late Arizona Cardinal and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s death in Iraq as just punishment for a “Rambo” type who got what was coming to him.

Though this represented the worst in college journalism and the price we pay as a society for living beneath the First Amendment, the fact that a student or student editors elsewhere would see fit to decry the sacrifice of a man committed to a noble cause higher than himself is unfortunate.

Though no one has openly questioned Pat Tillman’s sacrifice, this campus has seen its share of war protests, and no doubt support for America’s current foreign policy is likely a source of division depending on who you ask, no matter how they would define themselves politically. But the situation of those who fight is not of their choosing, and soldiers now in the Middle East and around the world are only carrying out the orders to which they pledged to obey.

At this time of year when many of us are spending our nights worrying over finals and plans for graduation, 30 UW students are currently on active duty, and that number can change from day to day and week to week. Many of them are thousands of miles away, constantly concerned with survival, an extremely difficult job to do in hostile territory. As another beautiful, relaxing summer dawns in Madison, we urge students not to forget this. Many of our own are risking their lives each and every day in extremely hostile conditions.

A member of our staff, Nikki Woodworth, was called to service with the National Guard earlier this week. She will ship out to the Middle East shortly. This serves as a reminder to us of the immediacy of the challenges faced overseas by our friends and peers.

This board has taken some controversial opinions throughout the past semester, and it has never been lost on us that volunteers like Nikki and so many others like her are the ones that truly make it possible for us to speak as we please and study in this most amazing of universities, and we are in their debt. We wish them Godspeed.