Dispatch from Afghanistan

(c) Roger Leo

Two Marines were killed in the Alishang Valley on Mother's Day. Their unit engaged several armed groups working for local drug lords affiliated with terrorist groups in a three-hour firefight and 10-hour withdrawal over 20 kilometers of mountainous terrain. More than 23 enemy were killed over the 13 hours the Marines were in contact. Lying in his firing position on a ridge at about 4,500 feet in the Alishang Valley as night fell, one Marine asked, "Have people back home forgotten us? It feels like it." No, people at home had not forgotten -- but sometimes it seems Iraq pushes Afghanistan out of our minds. Our boys are still here.