Kudos to Technician for printing this article, about three students — Jeremy Pfistner, Phillip Yeakey and Nathan Smith — who came to NC State after serving in Iraq:

Yeakey spent much of his time in Iraq helping the civilians. His patrol rebuilt schools, handed out soccer balls to the children, fixed a water tower and restored order to the village they were stationed in, according to him.

The kids were the most touching part of the experience, according to Pfistner, who would give the children ice cream or other treats whenever possible.

“They were just so innocent,” he said.

According to Yeakey, the children’s respect and admiration for U.S. soldiers was a direct reflection of their parents. He said he gets mad at the common misconception that all Iraqis hate Americans, when he received handshakes and crowds clapped in response to the work done in their villages.

Yeakey said he feels in a world where media only seem interested in reporting the bad things like car bombs and soldier deaths, there should be more coverage of the positive aspects of the things troops are doing.

“For every one combat mission there are 15 humanitarian missions,” Smith said. He watched a nonfunctional power plant become fully operational in less than three months. According to Smith, schools gave children, especially young girls, a chance to get an education they might not have received without U.S. support.

Those comments — expressing pride in what’s being done, wishing that people knew about all the great humanitarian good being accomplished, experiencing the love and gratitude of the Iraqi people, enjoying the children — are all exactly the same things I’ve heard from friends and associates of mine who have served in Iraq. It’s a shame we don’t hear more about it, and I’m thankful to any news medium who reports on it, for the sake of all our troops in the field.