WASHINGTON D.C.—When asked who would be named the Person of the Year, I replied, “That’s easy. The American soldier.” Yes, it consists of hundreds of thousands of young men and women, but as a unit, they are by far the most amazing, selfless and brave members of our society today.

Politics has turned uglier than it was over 200 years ago when Thomas Jefferson was in a heated political race for president against one-time friend John Adams. Until most recently when Sarah Palin became Queen of the Tea Party and the party out of power decided to go negative, or “rogue” as Palin calls it, the election of 1800 was the political feud that was most reviled by historians. As the election of 1800 neared, Adams and Jefferson unleashed attacks on each other, with Adams referring to Jefferson’s slave and then secret sister-in-law Sally Hemings as his mistress. Jefferson denied the accusations, calling them slanderous, but history would prove Adams to be the teller of truth when he also accused Jefferson of fathering several, if not all of Hemings’s children.

Now we have politicians calling others “Muslims,” “liars,” “Kenyan citizens” and the next presidential election is not for two more years. Can we stand much more of this nasty name calling in what once was considered a polite society? That being said, our troops have been fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan for 10 years now, and never once have they called either former President George Walker Bush or President Barack Obama any names, only Mr. President or Commander-in-Chief. They have valiantly battled a vile enemy without our full support since the early days of the Afghan war. Yet the troops still do not complain.

As the American soldier remains thousands of miles from home, with Americans sending gossip and rumors throughout the Internet, the soldiers enjoy what mail and care packages supporters, family members and the USO prepare on a regular basis. They were promised an education paid for by Uncle Sam, but many end up with physical and emotional ravages, which will be a hindrance to their futures; they don’t get to see their families and loved ones on a regular basis and they eat in the desert while we dine in our clean homes and complain about how bad things are here. And those are the troops who will actually get to come home alive.

The American soldier shoulders the weight of our nation’s defense as they fight on the frontlines against the terrorists, who plotted and succeeded at attacking our nation on September 11, 2001. They have no one to cry to, no one to confide in except their comrades. They return home if not physically and/or emotionally injured to a nation rife with unemployment and because they have no popular skills, such as typing, computer programming or nursing, they are often the last hired, and still they battle the old stigma of what many in WWII called “shell shock syndrome.” We now call it post-traumatic stress disorder.

No matter what our soldiers endure, they remain upbeat, positive and unlike the American public, resolute in winning this war, that grows in unpopularity within the nation because of our short-memories. Perhaps the troops, who would love to come home to their families and get on with their own lives, show all of us what humility and service to our nation truly means. It’s not complaining about how hard you may have it, it’s about putting the nation and its security before your whining and political preferences.

May our soldiers come home safely and with honor in the near future. God bless the American soldier and bless our nation.