By Byron McCauley
Associate Editorial Page Editor

My once-pudgy uncle returned to his rural, wooded, childhood home from Vietnam lean and aged from the horrors of war.

After a while, he got a job at a local factory. Things appeared normal. One morning, after starting his car before work, he rushed back into the house in a full panic. "Mama, give me the gun. Give me the gun. The Viet Cong are in the trees. Give me the gun!"

That outburst was the only hint he ever gave about what he experienced. He was one of the lucky ones. The demons eventually left him, and he became a church deacon, father, taxpayer.

Many of our sons, daughters and loved ones now in Iraq won't come back, and we must be prepared for that. For those who return wounded, in body and spirit, we need to embrace them and help them cope.

The faces of brave, young, soldiers - both lost to war and fully engaged - appear daily now in our newspapers and on TV. And while embedded journalists have allowed us to see field combat over dinner, as Americans, it is important to remember their faces, and their humanity. And we need to be prepared for the worst.

Iraq is no Vietnam, but comparisons are being drawn as allied casualties mount, guerrilla war tactics by those loyal to Saddam Hussein continue and war protests around the country escalate.

At the height of the Vietnam War, it was estimated that 200 American soldiers were killed each week. The Bush administration has been reluctant to offer an estimate of possible casualties in this war, or how long troops will have to fight, only saying that we need to prepare for more sacrifices.

Increasingly, we are seeing that this war won't be quick. The opposition is fighting dirty, too, staging from hospitals and mosques. In the coming days, innocents will die. Real-time, uncensored images may not be pleasant, and we must be prepared for that.