Just returned from Walgreens here in Portland to pick up a few things that we wanted. While waiting in line at the counter, I struck up a conversation with the 2 brown Muslim looking guys standing behind me. Handsome, in their 20s and obviously identical twins, I asked them where they were from and why they were here. Turned out they are from Kurdistan, and both had acted as interpreters for the U.S. military during our decades long war in Iraq. I thanked them for their service to the United States, talked a bit about the current situation in Mosul, and added that this work must have been very dangerous for them and their family. One of the brothers choked back emotion, and I realized at that time that these guys have given far more to this country than most of us in our insulated, middle-class American bubble. I thanked them again for their service to this country, and told them that it is people like them who make this country great. Upon parting, they couldn't have been more cordial, and I hope that from here on, all of us will remember these brothers, and what they add to the United States, when encountering people who look different, yet are now the face of America.