The Cedar Valley hardly needs to be reminded of the significance of Memorial Day this year.

In addition to the service and sacrifice of veterans of past wars, we saw the gallantry and hardships of our present-day heroes and their families on national television last night.

CBS News' "60 Minutes" devoted its entire hour to a report on the Waterloo-headquartered Iowa Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, and the hardships its nearly 600 soldiers and their families have been during the rigors of their deployment to Iraq.

That journey began nearly two years ago for the 1/133d soldiers, who are also from installations in Dubuque, Oelwein, Iowa Falls and Charles City.

"60 Minutes" and correspondent Scott Pelley have followed the 1/133rd virtually that entire time, from deployment, to training, to when their boots hit the ground in Iraq more than a year ago. The CBS crew also kept in touch with soldiers' families on the home front.

The report covered their enthusiasm, hardships and their deep disappointment at having their tour of duty extended. The 1/133rd was to have returned in April but had their tour extended to August as part of President Bush's troop-surge initiative. The unit's mission of providing convoy security continues.

The report also included tragedy - the deaths of Staff Sgt. Scott Nisely, 48, of Marshalltown, and Spc. Kampha B. Sourivong, 20, of Iowa City, who were killed in a Sept. 30 attack. Several other soldiers have been wounded by improvised explosive devices, including Spc. Joshua Reece of Eldora and Sgt. Justin Abernathy of Hazleton.

It also captured the stress and anxiety of their loved ones awaiting their return home, and the shared disappointment of their extension.

"For a mother to send her child into harm's way is unnatural," says Tonya Rosol, mother of twins Justin and Denver Foote. Denver, of Evansdale, is in Iraq.

"There are 100,000-plus mothers who are doing this," Rosol told "60 Minutes." "It's the hardest thing I have ever done."

But the Cedar Valley, through groups such as Iowa's Bravest, a group of John Deere employees and others, have faithfully supported the 1/133rd and all local deployed soldiers since war began, sending gift boxes full of snacks, toiletries games, and well wishes from the folks back home - and, of course, a sea of John Deere caps from the folks at Deere's Waterloo operations.

Iowa's Bravest made a special shipment of gift boxes specifically to the 1/133rd shortly after their extension was announced. Black Hawk County government employees also chipped in, supporting troops families with parties and kids' activities at monthly meetings of battalion families.

That kind of support is not lost on the troops, Denver Foote wrote from Iraq late last year.

"The support we have gotten is great!" Foote said. "To be able to receive a box from not only my co-workers, friends, family and even strangers who never met me or maybe never will is just an incredible feeling…"

The 1/133rd, nicknamed the "Ironman Battalion" for its consecutive days of service in North Africa and Italy during World War II, has acquitted itself well. According to the 1/133rd's public affairs officer , 2nd Lt. Matthew Parrino, , speaking in late November, 22 soldiers were awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, three have received the Combat Action Badge and one has received the Combat Medic Badge. Requests for numerous additional awards within the unit have been submitted.

A number of similar awards were made to "Ironman" members who had been deployed with Task Force 168 in Afghanistan in 2004.

The duty is not without incredible strain on the families.

As their friends and neighbors, we should do our utmost to support these brave Americans any way we can, writing letters, pack boxes, or reaching out to families. One step is by volunteering for or donating to Iowa's Bravest, by contacting organizer Julie Ehlers at (319) 232-3795 or www.IowasBravest.org.

Regardless of anyone's feelings about the war, everyone in the Cedar Valley and Iowa should be proud of, and grateful for, our soldiers' service - as we honor all our loved ones who are serving in whatever capacity in this and previous conflicts.

This generation of soldiers of the 1/133rd, like their predecessors 60 years ago, truly deserve the nickname "Ironman." They, and thousands of others like them, are the iron of our national fibre.