Sergeant Aaron Sissel, 22, left, died on November 29, 2003 while transporting gear and supplies across the Syrian border. The young man had just been promoted to Sergeant and he was passionate about serving his country and being in the military. “After 9/11, he wanted to be activated full time and make sure he did his part. He knew he needed to be there and he thought he should be there,” said his father Kirk Sissel. “Yes, there will be loss of life in war and one of those losses was my own son. But we need to be there. We’re doing the right thing.”

• Kirk Sissel, whose son was killed, says his boy believed he was protecting America and so he does too." A person hates to think he has to lose family members to get world peace, but that's the way it's always had to be," Sissel, 48, a truck driver, explains stoically. "People can sit back and say: 'We shouldn't have done it', but we don't know what would have happened if we didn't." Sissel will vote for Bush. "Any time a conflict starts like we're in, I don't think a change of commander-in-chief is the way to go." The Weekend Australian, 9/18/04