Cpl. William A. Long, an Army honor guard member who helped bury about 600 soldiers before deciding that he wanted to aid the military effort in Iraq, died in a grenade attack while there and was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on June 27, 2005. Brig. Gen. John MacDonald presents the American flag that was on Cpl. Long’s coffin to his mother, Susan Cordner. (Photograph by Jay Talbott/Scripps Howard News Service)

“Our heroes are those who act above and beyond the call of duty and in so doing give definition to patriotism and elevate all of us…. America is the land of the free because we are the home of the brave.” David Mahoney