I direct you to this story about a soldier and selfless citizen, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Crabtree of the Guard's 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group:

Family, Fellow Police Officers Remember Ohio Solider Killed in Iraq

One of the first lines tells us that this soldier loved Star Wars, among other simple pleasures in life. But that's not really the point. Lots of people like Star Wars. The more important point is what a friend said about him:

"He was brave and kind. He loved to help people, and he loved his country.''

As I read this story about a soldier who traded his life for his beliefs and for his nation, it made me wonder why there is only one Memorial Day a year.

Our wars are fought by folks that have a calling apart from most. Here's a man who heard a calling for much of his adult life - to serve his community as a police officer, to serve his homeland as a National Guardsman, and to serve the interests of freedom abroad as a soldier in the Special Forces.

I've never been in the military, though often I wished I could have served. Back in the day, when I was much younger and quicker, my father expressed his most heartfelt wishes that I would not join up. He served during the Korean War in the Navy, and he didn't want to see me go into combat. Since I loved and respected my father, despite twice wanting to join the Marines at the behest of an old mentor and boss who served 2 tours in Vietnam as a captain in the Corps, I didn't. Sometimes, many times, I regret not doing so.

And then sometimes, I feel blessed that I didn't given news of late - even today 2 soldiers have been found tortured and killed in Iraq. It's a solemn undertaking to become a soldier, and that's something I say without truly understanding it.

Of course now I have a life years beyond then, and I have a wonderful daughter. But I wonder how I deserved such fortune over people such as these.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Crabtree had his own daughter, now 1 year old, and he'll never see her through the blur of years as she becomes a young lady, as I've had the fortune and trial to do. I feel he has been cheated, and against logic somehow I feel that I and others like me enjoy serendipity where he deserved it more.

So here's a man, a fan, a person who loved Star Wars and lived to demonstrate some of those qualities we sometimes think exist only in these films - selflessness, sacrifice, courage, commitment, compassion, belief in something greater than himself, and the idea that one person can make a difference.

The point is not that he liked Star Wars; the point is that he's the stuff our heros are made of.

We may not have known him, nor many of those brave people over there in savage heat and desolate landscapes that deal out death and injury in commonplace terms. I'd like to think that as a fan, he frequented our community here and enjoyed our company from time to time in between his duties as protector of the peace and soldier. We may never know. But we may indulge our fandom to quote a wistful Obi-Wan:

"He was a cunning warrior, and he was a good friend."

A friend to those that knew him. A friend to any of us strangers he fought for. And a friend to his brothers and sisters who continue to do so, or have likewise fallen in honorable service.

May the Force Be With Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Crabtree, and his family, and the soldiers that fight our wars.

DM out