Some see a parallel between the fighting in Iraq today and that lost war in Vietnam. Others believe the final outcome will be much different — a victory for freedom and democracy.

Whichever side is right, there’s one bit of history this country can control and shouldn’t repeat. When GI Johnny and Jane come marching home again, they should be treated to a hero’s welcome. These brave troops have risked their lives for a year or more, undertaking a thankless job to bring freedom to a people with mixed feelings about our presence in their country.

Our troops should be hailed, not hit with venom, partisan rhetoric or apathy, as the Vietnam War veterans were.

Among those who deserve special mention is Col. Gregory P. Cook, a 1979 Coeur d’Alene High graduate who commanded one of the Air Force’s four Global Assessment Teams during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His job was to turn “battlefields into airfields.” Within two days of the war’s start, Cook was leading an eight-member team to convert a captured airfield in a remote area near Syria into use by U.S. troops.

The work of the assessment teams was crucial in the lightning push by allied forces to win the initial phase of the war.

“They are truly heroes of this conflict,” Maj. Gen. George N. Williams, former director of mobility forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom, was quoted as saying in the citation for the Bronze Star he recommended for Cook.

Cook plans to return to the Inland Northwest after he retires from his current duties at the Pentagon.

Other heroes were recognized as part of ceremonies Monday for the Stryker Brigade at Fort Lewis, Wash. Spc. Joshua Miller received a Silver Star for saving a commander caught in debris and then holding off a 20-man enemy assault.

Staff Sgt. Charles Quintanilla used his M203 grenade launcher to hold off an attack while his unit flanked the enemy and killed 17. He received a Bronze Star for his courageous fighting.

Spc. Rebecca L. Finnick had a Rambo moment, too. According to the Associated Press, she saved her convoy from a direct hit from a grenade when she spotted and fired upon attackers hiding in a cemetery. Then, she provided aid to the machine gunner in her Humvee who’d been shot in the arm, and, ultimately, manned his weapon as her squad evacuated. Through her valiant actions, Finnick proved that women have a place in the battlefield, too.

Fittingly, Col. Michael Rounds read the names of the 20 Stryker Brigade soldiers who died in Iraq.

“They have earned a special place in the history of the brigade,” Rounds said. “We will never forget them.”

On the same day as the Fort Lewis ceremonies, Army Spc. Blain Ebert, 22, of Washtucna, Wash., was killed by a sniper when he poked his head out of the tank he was commanding. He won’t be coming home to a celebration. But he is a hero. We should never forget that.