A new hope

Image courtesy: 1-178th Field Artillery Battalion

As reporters chase a JetBlue flight attendant and even debate whether he is a "hero," another worthy story from Afghanistan has been ignored by the mainstream press. On August 10, the U.S. Army joined with Afghan military and government officials to dedicate a new school building that will give over 9,000 young Afghans a chance at better lives. Despite being surrounded by the chaos of war, American soldiers and Afghan officials completed The Mehrabudin School project in Kabul province in less than six months.

Soldiers from Camp Phoenix, which is located on the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital city, teamed up with Operation Outreach Afghanistan, an organization made up of U.S. troops volunteering their time to help civilians in local villages. Judith's Reading Room also jumped on board to help The Mehrabudin School, donating dozens of boxes of books to help create the learning center's first-ever library.

It is tragic that the children of Afghanistan have grown up in a war zone for the past nine years. While Al Qaeda's evil ideology and the Taliban's efforts to harbor terrorists gave the U.S. no choice but to act after the September 11 attacks, kids like the ones pictured below did nothing wrong. As an American, it makes me immensely proud to know our troops are working hard to build schools and provide humanitarian assistance, even as their lives remain on the line in these villages at every moment. It's a big story, regardless of whether the American media chooses to notice.

Image courtesy: Capt. Chris Neeley