"The Bard's Breath" is a daily weekday feature that brings you art, quotes and verse related to our times. We all need a bit more than just news to make it through what's coming next: Spirit. Perspective. Faith. Reminders of humanity, and horror, and the shape of true victory.

We're on it.

Sometimes, the best and most stirring words are the ones that are true - and it's the bard's duty to bring them to life, too. Yesterday was quite the day, as the story of Maine teachers harassing the 8 year old children of deployed soldiers hit critical mass. Today's post reminds us all what those parents could be up to. The moral issue of attacking a vulnerable child is beyond question, but I also have a big issue with what those teachers were disparaging.

Many of you have read Blackhawk Down, or seen the movie. The scene in which 2 Delta Force snipers volunteer to go down to a crash site without backup to protect the pilots from a mob of hundreds was true. 2 Delta specialists, Sgt. 1st class Randy Shugart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, would leave no man behind. Both earned The Medal of Honor that day in Mogadishu, Somalia. Both medals were posthumous.

In addition to telling our story yesterday, the Wall Street Journal also told theirs. The juxtaposition was a fitting one as we pray for the welfare of all our soldiers in the coming months, and demand civility and understanding toward the children of people whose stories could in the end be similar to Shugart and Gordon's.