As you probably already know, Pat Tillman was killed in action yesterday in Afghanistan.

I've never been much of a sports fan, so I hadn't heard of him before he quit the Cardinals to join the Army. I remember telling my wife, "Now there is a prime example of America's finest." He gave up a life of luxury to serve his country.

Now he has given up his very life for his country.

When I was younger, I spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force. Though I served during the First Gulf War, I never saw combat. Heck, I never even left the country, unless you count being stationed in California. I was one of the lucky ones, I suppose.

There are a great many men and women who are serving their country now. They all have made sacrifices; some by staying in when higher pay awaits them in the civilian world; many by separation from their families during TDYs (temporary duty assignments) or remote tours. Then there are those 700-odd who have given that "last, full measure of devotion" - who have bled their last on the rocky soil of Afghanistan, or the sands of Iraq.

Every day, I am more convinced that we have another Greatest Generation on our hands. And here's one of the reasons why:

{Marine Corps. Commandant, General} Hagee's last story was about another 22-year-old squad leader, Cpl. Timothy C. Tardif, who was suffering from grenade fragment wounds and had been evacuated to Germany, but found a way back to the battlefields of Iraq.

"He was in a platoon that was in a very fierce firefight, and he was able to lead his squad across an open road into a village to secure the right flank of the village," Hagee said. "The good news is they made it across. The bad news is they were in a hand grenade-throwing contest.

The battle continued for a couple of hours. Tardif was seriously wounded by shrapnel, but he refused to be evacuated, the general said. "They were successful and secured the village," Hagee noted. "But as they were pulling out of the village, Corporal Tardif passed out because of loss of blood."

The United States Navy will be making a show of force in late July off the coast of China - with seven carrier battle groups! In an article about Operation Summer Pulse 04, The Straits Times says in part:

From past deployment patterns, the US usually despatches one CSG to a trouble spot as a reminder of its presence.

It did so several times in the past when tension was high in the Taiwan Strait.

It sends two to indicate serious concern, as was the case when China test-fired missiles over the strait in 1996.

In a combat situation, it deploys three to four, which was what it did in the Gulf War in the early 1990s and the recent Iraqi war.

But never before has it sent in peace time seven [out of 12] CSGs to the same theatre.