Somalia, 1992-93: On the mean streets of Mogadishu, Herman Morton learned that things could get even worse than the ugliness he witnessed in Persian Gulf War.

And with Somalia in the news as Memorial Day draws near, that tragic country returns frequently to his thoughts.

“The warlords were ruthless,” Herman recalls. “They fired directly over the shoulders of their own women and children, knowing we wouldn’t shoot back. They used the moral strength of our culture to put us in a serious bind.”

Sergeant First Class Herman Morton left the service a disabled veteran and a very serious man, determined to use his life to do as much good as possible. He volunteers a great deal of his time to helping other disabled veterans as a leader in the DAV.

Herman’s sacrifices for America remind all of us that our troops risk life and limb all the time – not just in the big 20th century wars, not just in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We must remember those who returned disabled from places like Granada, Lebanon, Haiti, Panama, Liberia, Columbia, the former Yugoslavia, and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.