On Thursday and Friday, the Department of Defense announced the deaths of three Army soldiers and four Marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

You might not have heard.

Rising food and fuel prices have eclipsed the war as the greatest concern of most Americans.

The war continues though, and Valley residents remain active in efforts to stabilize the situation overseas.

About 700 soldiers from a Lewisburg-based Army National Guard unit are in the middle of a nine-month stint in Afghanistan. Several of those soldiers were recently pictured in the newspaper with a group of Afghan children with whom they regularly play soccer.

The local National Guard soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan because many of them have already completed tours in Iraq. Regardless of where they are stationed, some things remain unchanged -- the determination to serve and compassion to build bridges far from their Valley hometowns.

Daniel Bisbee, formerly of Kratzerville, demonstrated the same virtues while serving in Iraq. Bisbee -- a former Army officer now employed by the U.S. State Department -- intervened to gain an Iraqi medical treatment from American doctors after a suicide bombing. The gesture saved the man's leg and likely saved his life.

The long-term impact of successes like these will depend on policies established by our nation's next commander-in-chief. The three presidential candidates offer different plans for dealing with the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would begin bringing troops home if elected, while John McCain argues military operations could continue for decades.

Recently, their views on a gas tax holiday have gained more notice. Inflation hurts us all. It is no small matter when local food pantries report a 25-percent increase in requests over last year. But overlooking the war because of the difficult economic conditions at home would be an injustice to the solders who have and continue to sacrifice so much.

The Bush Administration's long-term war plan has proved as wanting as its response to a weakening economy. Our nation's next president must do a better job on both fronts.