This past weekend, rallies were held in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. as thousands took to the streets to protest the war in Iraq.

Not long after these protests – on Monday morning, the Associated Press reported that a mortar attack in a town south of Baghdad resulted in 10 people killed, including three children and four women.

In addition, two soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during a battle between Iraqi forces and a militant group called “Soldiers of Heaven.”

The AP reported 200 of the insurgents died in the fighting.

This is the scene in which U.S. Army SPC Allen Wright, 1st Brigade, 3rd Division Infantry, will serve his second tour in Iraq.

Wright, who grew up in Selma, has left his parents, and his fiancee to return to Iraq.

His parents’ church, First Baptist Church, and their Cone Drive neighbors have rallied around them, placing yellow ribbons on their mailboxes.

Wright is a 1992 graduate of Morgan Academy and a graduate of Troy State University.

But, he is just one of more than 100,000 troops that are now deployed in Iraq.

President Bush is planning to deploy another 21,500, a move that many Democrats, and Republicans alike, are against.

At the center of all the politics, however, are soldiers like

Allen Wright, who are willing to answer their call to service.

Protesters certainly have the right to voice their opinion.

But they should be mindful of who is really at the center of this controversy, and show unfailing support for the soldiers and their families.