As a retired Army major general, I know what a challenging job uniformed public service can be. The hazards are enormous, the financial rewards small, and the work never ending. Those who wear the uniform do so out of duty and love of country. Although they do not seek public recognition for their service, they deserve at the very least to be treated as the professionals they are.
In the last several months, one group of extremely hard-working and dedicated U.S. Army professionals serving here in the Midwest has been singled out for consistent and sustained public mistreatment not for any wrongdoing on their part, but as part of an organized campaign to discredit a nearly completed oil pipeline.