David Robins is your average college student. He may be that guy sitting next to you in your political science class, or you may have bumped into him over the weekend on Marshall Street. But Robins has a different plan after he graduates this spring than most college students: He may be one of the many brave Americans deployed to Iraq.

Just like the thousands of troops currently serving in Iraq, I wonder if Robins, an Army ROTC cadet and future commissioned officer, will ever have to face the hostility that many soldiers dealt with after returning home from the Vietnam War. With President George W. Bush’s approval ratings continuing to drop and war protests on the rise, it is my hope that we understand that we can be anti-war, but that doesn’t mean we have to be anti-troop.

As of Monday, 2,042 American soldiers have died in the war, according to icasualties.org, and most of them are people our own age. The cadets in ROTC, for example, are our peers and our friends. They, much like most of those deployed in Iraq, are like the rest of us – the same young-spirited, career-oriented people looking to make something of their lives.

Unfortunately, I don’t think many people realize that. Because our generation hasn’t seen the many effects of war like our parents and grandparents did, we may be less likely to understand the role of the Iraq war on troops and their families. We treat the war as if it’s distant from us, allowing us to judge it during class discussions and in conversations, not realizing that our own friends are directly involved.

‘I get a lot of flack in some classes,’ Robins said. ‘(Students) don’t know what ROTC is and they look at me and ask, ‘Are you in the Army?’ There’s a very limited knowledge.’

So before we are quick to act out against the war, keep in mind that those students dressed in fatigues aren’t just patriotic people who can’t relate to us. They’re our fellow classmates we can learn from and appreciate. Strike up a conversation with one of them and find out who they are beyond the military scope. You may find that students, like David, are not much different than you and me.