All citizen’s of a country at war feel a daily strain and anguish as their countrymen fight in a far off land. For some students at Ohio State, that pain is instified because it is their peers, their friends and relatives, that are fighting abroad.

Alicia Widrig, junior in business, thinks of her friend Shawn Molloy everyday. Molloy, 24, is currently stationed in Iraq repairing medical equipment, acting as a combat lifesaver, and maintaining and establishing communication between bases.

“Whenever people talk about the war, it upsets me because Shawn has told me some horrible stories about being over there, and I know at any second if he is in the wrong place at the wrong time he could be injured or, even worse, killed,” Widrig said. “Watching the news about the war upsets me too, especially when they say someone from Ohio was killed or injured. I think how lucky Shawn is that it wasn’t him.”

Having a friend in the military has changed Widrig’s view on military duty and what it means.

“I have a lot more respect for people in the military and know what they are put through,” Widrig said. “I never realized how scary being in the military could be.”

Molloy is based out of Balad, Iraq, and travels to Tikrit, Tallafar, Baghdad, Ashraf, Qwest and Mosul.

In addition to those serving in Iraq, just as many troops are present in Afganistan. Tyler Ragor, a junior in finance, has a cousin, Private First Class Travis Swihart currently serving as a member of the International Guard. Swihart returned from Iraq a few months ago, but will leave for Afganistan later this month.

Because of the eight hour difference, Swihart’s phone calls are received by Ragor usually around 3 a.m., but still the rare phone calls are comforting and reassuring.

“When he’s over there, I don’t like to watch the news very much because all they do is talk about bad things happening over there,” Ragor said. “With my cousin being over there, I didn’t feel like watching the news because everything I heard was negative.”

Amanda Benge, a sophomore in dental hygiene at the Ohio Institute of Health Careers, is extremely close to her brother Ryan. Ryan Benge is a marine who served in Iraq for seven months this year.

“I was really sad for a while,” Amanda Benge said. “I would just try to keep myself busy to get my mind off of it … I prayed a lot.”

Distractions from school and work affected Amanda Benge negatively while her brother was serving in Iraq and now she views men who serve in the military in a newly honorable manner. Widrig expressed the same feelings of the U.S. soldiers.

“People sleep well in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence in their favor,” Widrig said.

Since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom at the end of 2001, 2,083 American lives have been taken. Ninety-four are from Ohio.