My hero and I met last year on MySpace while he was deployed in Iraq. During that time, I got a unique look into a soldier's life away from home. After long days of patrols and missions, Drill Sargeant (Allen) Murphy -- then a Staff Sargeant -- would log into Instant Messenger to ask me about my day. Often, I would start complaining about the 90-degree weather, my children's behavior, or how I had hurt myself by stubbing my toe before I would return the question. His answers would give me a much-needed reality check: days when 120-degree temperatures were considered a mark of "good" weather, realizations of missing his children and realizing their next hug would be two years from their last, gratitude for not being injured when a IED hit his truck (yet again).

During the past 18 years, Allen has served his country in many different capacities -- including a 1991 Desert Storm deployment, a deployment for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and a year-long deployment to Iraq in 2005-2006. Most recently, he has fought along side of the other soldiers in the 2nd Platoon Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, KY. Soon, his duty will be performed as a Drill Sargeant to train others to defend our country. He is my soldier, my best friend, my love, and my hero.

In this picture he is getting ready for patrol in his Humvee, a.k.a. "Pork Chop Express", on February 16, 2006.

-- Rosemarie Stanton of Clarksville, Tennessee