This was something Dan wanted to do. He was adamant about going back to Iraq after being in Kosovo. He was a great kid. The most important thing here is that he was a great American citizen - he gave his life for this country.

I'll remember his spirit and love for life. He was fun-loving and energetic, and will be missed.

It seems like we've had our fair share of bad things happen this last winter. These kids were all there for me, and that's the kind of community we have here.

Barring ... any catastrophe in Iraq or Iran, which is certainly the big wild card in this, we expect to see prices to start coming down in the June, July range.

Katrina gets you to Iraq. It gets you to petroleum. It gets you to presidential politics. It has laid bare so many cracks and fissures in our system.

We get so discouraged with the negative, so it's nice to hear there are people (in Iraq) who are thankful for our presence there. Especially good was the interaction he shared as a Christian with some of the Muslims and some of the biblical sites he saw. Seeing a picture of him with his arm around a Muslim, you have to remember there's a war going on.