[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/25/vert.keith.heidtman.jpg caption="1LT Keith Heidtman" width=292 height=320]

1LT Rose MacHarg
566 Medical Company (AS) Executive Officer
Serving in Iraq at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad

Memorial Day was never too significant to me until my unit began its train-up to go to Iraq. Sure, I had family members who had fought in past conflicts and had taken my share of history courses in school. Even though I had completed 4 years of Army ROTC and 2 years of active duty, I never quite grasped the significance of it until the days after Memorial Day of 2007.

It was May 30 2007 and I was running weekend errands. On a whim, I stopped to get a quick haircut. As I was waiting, I happened to glance at the TV and CNN was on. I watched the featured story for a few minutes, lost interest and started to look away. All of a sudden the screen segued to faces of Soldiers with a caption of “Fallen Soldiers.”

The first face was a shock to me.

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