Maj. Douglas Zembiec, the subject of this moving and inspiring Los Angeles Times Magazine feature in 2004 was killed last week in Iraq. He is survived by his wife, Pam, and 1-year-old daughter, Fallyn.

Pray for Maj. Zembiec's family and honor his memory by reading the profile.

"From day one, I've told [my troops] that killing is not wrong if it's for a purpose, if it's to keep your nation free or to protect your buddy," he said. "One of the most noble things you can do is kill the enemy."

For his Marines, Zembiec asks for respect, not sympathy, even as one-third of his 150-man company became casualties. "Marines are violent by nature--that's what makes us different," he said. "These young Marines didn't enlist to get money to go to college. They joined the Marines to be part of a legacy."

He knows talk like that puts him outside mainstream America and scares the bejabbers out of some people.

Maj. Zembiec personified the famous quote by George Orwell: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Some will see Maj. Zembiec as a victim, another senseless casualty in a misguided, mismanaged war. This attitude dishonors this man's service and his sacrifice. Remember Maj. Douglas Zembiec as this Memorial Day approaches and take comfort that this great nation continues to produce men like him.