WASHINGTON – Two soldiers receiving Purple Hearts at Walter Reed Army Medical Center called Afghanistan a "forgotten war" being fought with not enough troops, supplies or support from the American people.

Army Spc. Jesse Murphree, 20, of Westminister, Colo., lost both legs to a roadside bomb on Dec. 27 in northeastern Afghanistan.

"Every day we were getting shot at," he said in an interview after receiving his Purple Heart on Friday. "And you hear about other people in Iraq, they got shot at a couple of times. We're like, we've been shot at every day.

"You start thinking you're fighting a forgotten war, like no one's paying attention. I went home on R&R before I got hurt and people were coming up to me, they're like, at least you're not in Iraq and stuff, and I was looking at them, and I was like, what? And they'd say, you don't do, they called it battle, they're like, you don't do battle anymore? And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, yeah, I do," Spc.  Murphree said.

"I know the area our unit's at is definitely hot and definitely feels they're forgotten about, like the people think that Afghanistan is really not a big deal or nothing's really going on. We still got people that are dying, we still got people that are getting hurt."

Army Pfc. Justin Kalenits, 24, of Geneva, Ohio, who was wounded in a Nov. 9 ambush in the Waygol Valley of Afghanistan, echoed Spc. Murphree's sentiments.

"It's a battle," he said. "There's not enough troops there. Need a lot of troops. Our unit's stretched really, really thin. There's not enough stuff. We're doing a lot of fighting over there. We're getting hurt. It's not good. So, I'd like to see it end. Definitely."

Another Purple Heart recipient, Army Cpl. Taylor Harter, 20, of Fernandina Beach, Fla., was more upbeat about the war in Iraq. He was wounded Jan. 19 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

"It's going good," Harter said. "Sometimes when times get hard, you miss your family. You just wish you could go home. At the same time, you know you got to get the mission done."

A fourth Purple Heart recipient, Army Staff Sgt. Kristopher Mitchell, 29, of Calcium, N.Y., who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Kirkuk, Iraq, declined to be interviewed.

John Rutherford is an NBC News Producer based out of the Washington, D.C. bureau and is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/.

 WASHINGTON –  The National Archives has created an interactive Web site in which people can learn about each of the 58,250 Americans killed in the Vietnam War and also pay tribute to them.

"These are individuals, these are people who have given their lives, these are many of them my friends," Vietnam veteran Richard Schroepfer says in a video on the site, which is called the "Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial." 

The memorial provides a link to the service records and casualty reports of those who died in the war, average age: 22.8 years. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own comments, stories and photos.

VIDEO: Vietnam Memorial goes virtual

"We know there are many untold experiences and stories represented on the Wall, and we hope this interactive version of the Wall will help those affected by the war," Russell Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com, which partnered with the Archives on the project, told a news conference this morning.

Wilding said the site also provides a way for people to pay tribute to the 2.5 million Vietnam veterans who survived the war.

There are 36 different ways to search the site, including by name, unit, hometown, home state, rank and years of birth and death.

I decided to try it out. I typed in the name of a friend from college who I last saw in August 1969 at a remote outpost in South Vietnam and who I later learned had been killed in the war.

Sure enough, up popped his name:

Full name: Suttle, Frederick N. Jr.
Rank: Captain
Hometown: Newport News, Va.
Marital Status: Married
Date of Birth: 1945-03-27
Death Date: 1972-06-02
Age: 26
Died of: Air loss, crash-land
Ground, air, sea: Helicopter - non-crew
Body recovery: Recovered

There but for the grace of God go I.

. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/.

We always hear how small our world has become, and here's a real-life example.

Six years ago, while on assignment in northern Afghanistan, I met the Nazir family.

The Nazirs are a small family: A husband, wife, son and daughter.

Farah Naz Nazir, the mother, was a women's rights activist. The Taliban did not control that northern region. It was ruled by the so-called Northern Alliance.

VIDEO: One Afghan girl's journey

But the Northern Alliance shared one Taliban value: a woman's worth.

Afghanistan can be a tough place to be a woman.

This is the land of the bhurka, a robe that covers a woman head-to-toe.

It was just one of the many repressive impositions women endure.

The Nazir women didn't take kindly to the rules.

Only 9 years old, Vida Nazir should not have had to wear a bhurka. Bhurkas are usually worn by a girl once she's had her first period.

But the aged male school principal demanded all girls cover up.

Vida said no. Her mother agreed.

After talking to me at NBC News, and to other western reporters, her story got out.

When her harsh words about the bhurka, and about women's rights in general, were reported in the western media, the principal and the Northern Alliance eventually heard what she said.

They demanded she take back what she said or they would kill the entire Nazir family. In this part of the world, what you say can have life or death consequences.

Farah Naz, with daughter Vida at her side, stood their ground. They went into hiding and disappeared.

I've been in touch with them over the years via e-mail. So I knew Vida and her mother made it to safety.

But who would have guessed that in 2008, Vida, now 15 years old, would be in Florida on spring break.

I met Vida on the edge of the Florida everglades. I figured it was a unique spot for someone who has seen so much. Even someone who has lived in a repressive war zone is fascinated with alligators.

Vida is now a gangly teenager. She has the same issues any teenager would have: Boyfriends. What to wear? What's cool and uncool.

But she also has a unique take among her friends about life. She says, from her experience being hunted by people who wanted to kill her, she realizes how short life can be.

Again, this from a 15-year-old.

What does she miss from Afghanistan?

The cows.

Yes, the cows.

Click here to hear Vida talk about the cows and her life.

WASHINGTON -- Unlike the 1960s, when tens of thousands marched on the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War, small pockets of protesters fanned out across Washington to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.

They began Tuesday afternoon singing on the steps of the National Archives.

"Someone's in the White House with George,
 Someone's in the White House I know-ow-ow-ow,
 Someone's in the White House with George,
 Cooking up another war-r-r-r."

First thing this morning, they tried to block the entrance to IRS headquarters, but the entrance was already blocked by cops and barricades, so about 15 demonstrators had to climb over the barricades in order to get arrested.

Later, among other protests, they turned Pennsylvania Avenue into a theater of the absurd. "Veterans for Peace" made a symbolic citizens' arrest of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. About 50 demonstrators dressed in black and wearing white masks conducted a "March of the Dead" in front of the White House. At the same time, there was a waterboarding demonstration a few feet away.

For all of the theatrics, and despite the war's unpopularity, the number of demonstrators paled in comparison to the Vietnam protests.

"That's because the climate has changed considerably," former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska, said, noting the end of the military draft in 1973. "Right now, the war doesn't affect that many families because you've got the volunteer army. It hits families differently than it did then."

Chris Knowles of Troy, N.Y., whose son served in Iraq, said it's not that people don't care.

"Most of the people are against the war, but they're going about their daily lives, they're focused on getting by," she said. "The war is out of sight, out of mind."

That would change in a flash, the protesters said, if the draft were reinstated.

"If we were to reinstitute the draft right now and all of a sudden 180,000 more families would be affected, I'd guarantee you, there'd be a lot more people out on the streets," Ann Wright, who spent 29 years in the military, said.

A return of the draft, however, is about as unlikely as a quick resolution of the war, now in its sixth year.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/. A tribute gallery to U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

WASHINGTON – Army Maj. Alan Rogers had no family of his own, so his friends became his family, and scores of them turned out Friday to say good-bye to him.

Rogers was killed Jan. 27 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

An Army band led the procession down Bradley Road to Rogers' gravesite, followed by a horse-drawn caisson and all of those friends – civilian and military, young and old, black and white.

Courtesy U.S. Army

Army Maj. Alan Rogers was killed by a roadside bomb on Jan. 27 in Baghdad.

"Today we lay to rest Maj. Alan Greg Rogers, a man of great courage," an Army chaplain told the mourners. "Whenever he was needed, he was there."

Rogers was remembered for his love of cookouts and entertaining friends.

"Alan was such a sweet, kind, loving person," a friend wrote in the online guest book. "He brought everyone together to have a good time."

An only child of elderly parents, Rogers was often called home to Hampton, Fla., for medical emergencies.

"A mother couldn't have asked for a better son," a former neighbor told the Gainesville Sun. "Anytime they called, he would get here if he could."

The 40-year-old Rogers graduated from the University of Florida and had a graduate degree in public policy from Georgetown University. He was a career Army officer and an ordained minister.

"We have lost a special person in Alan," a fellow Army officer wrote in guest book.

His parents passed away and he was divorced with no children. But he had his friends, one of whom he contacted just hours before his death.

"He just said he missed us," the friend told the television station WUSA, "and he couldn't wait to come home." 

Rogers was due home this month, to be best man at a friend's wedding.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/. A tribute gallery to U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon sharks are circling CENTCOM Commander Adm. William "Fox" Fallon for a magazine interview in which he appears to openly criticize President Bush on the administration's Iran policy. The very public comments raised speculation Fallon would either volunteer or be forced to resign.

Defense Secretary William Gates announced Tuesday that
Fallon is stepping down as head of U.S. Central Command. He said Fallon
took the decision because he felt the statements attributed to him
created a misperception about his goals and those of President Bush.

The current issue of Esquire Magazine portrays Fallon as the one person in the military or Pentagon standing between the White House and war with Iran. The article credits Fallon with "brazenly challenging his commander in chief" over a possible war with Iran, which Fallon called an "ill-advised action," and implies Fallon would resign rather than go to war against Iran.

Asked on Monday whether Gates still has full confidence in Fallon, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell would only say that Fallon "still enjoys a working – a good working relationship with the Secretary of Defense."   

Although reporters did not specifically ask about a possible Fallon resignation, Morrell freely offered, "Admiral Fallon serves at the pleasure of the president." That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but far from a political death knell.

Still, the gruff, outspoken CENTCOM commander has his detractors. "How many times can [Fallon] get away with these kinds of remarks," before he's forced out the door, asked one senior Pentagon official. The reason may be that on Iran, Gates and many senior military officials happen to agree with Fallon.

Most military leaders against military strike on Iran
Gates has said publicly and privately that under current conditions he's opposed to war with Iran. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen is also against it. In fact, almost every senior military officer we've talked to is against launching military strikes against Iran, because as one senior official told us, "then what do you do?"

While the U.S. military does have the usual contingency plans for robust airstrikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets, it's the "aftermath, stupid." It's the potential military response from Iran in the region and repercussions in global oil markets that are incalculable.

In addition, military officials dispute the premise of the story that the White House is pressuring the military to go to war with Iran. "Not true," said a senior military official, despite the anti-Iran drumbeat from Vice President Dick Cheney.

In fact, during a conference in Bahrain last December, Gates had to convince Gulf state Arab allies that the United States was not going soft on Iran, because from their vantage point it appeared the Bush administration was backing away from its tough stand against Iran.

But even then, Gates was pushing for a new Gulf state military alliance, along with the U.S. to establish a coordinated regional strategic defense against Iran, not attack it. As always, the U.S. would never take the "military option" off the table in case conditions should change and Iran posed a threat to the U.S. or its allies in the region.

'Poison pen stuff'
Sources in the Pentagon said Fallon was worried the White House would perceive the magazine piece as a challenge to the president's authority, and insisted that couldn't be further from the truth. At the same time the sources said Fallon "doesn't sound like someone considering resignation."

In his own defense, Fallon told the Washington Post that the Esquire article was "poison pen stuff...disrespectful and ugly."

While any policy differences, real or perceived, between top U.S. military commanders and the civilian leadership are not necessarily unusual, it's rare when those commanders take the debate so public.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

 WASHINGTON -- Three soldiers received Purple Hearts this week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Afterward I asked them a series of questions sent to me by readers in response to my "Purple Hearted Candor" post about the last award ceremony.

On Tuesday I spoke with Sgt. Christopher Ritchey, 25, of Hudson, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Dale Cherney, 43, of Mosinee, Wis., and Sgt. Michael Minard, 26, of Grand Junction, Colo.

The first soldier, Sgt. Ritchey, was wounded in December by a roadside bomb north of Fallujah, Iraq:

NBC News

Sgt. Christopher Ritchey

Sgt. Ritchey: "I think the best way people can support troops coming back is to just listen, because I think it helps to just talk about what happened. Get things out in the open and, you know, not hide anything. I think that really helps the healing process."

Sgt. Ritchey: "I would tell someone joining to make sure they know what they're getting into and not be naive. Read everything before you sign it. A lot of people gave me advice, and I ignored a lot of good advice. I guess I wish I would have just finished school before joining the Army."

Sgt. Ritchey: "The enemy is really cunning, and they're fighting a guerilla war. We're doing the best we can, and in a lot of respects, from what I've seen, we are really kicking their butt."

Sgt. Ritchey: "I really can't say for sure. I think we're definitely making a lot of progress, and things are doing better than they were a couple of years ago."

Sgt. Ritchey: "You talk to these Iraqis out on the street, and they'll tell you they have hope, and I think that in itself makes it worth it."

Sgt. Ritchey: "I guess people just saying thank you is enough."

Staff Sgt. Cherney was wounded last October in a mortar attack on Camp Liberty in Iraq:

NBC News

Staff Sgt. Dale Cherney

7. Question from Jackie, Southern California: "In which way can we as civilians best honor their service?" SSG Cherney: "Just understand that soldiers go over there and do their duty. We aren't fighting for oil or whatever. If the country calls us to duty, we go."

SSG Cherney: "It changes everyone. That's a definite yes. I've seen some younger folks grow up really quick and come back very grown up. Me, I think about things more now."

SSG Cherney: "Most of the people are like us and they see us with hope. There are a few bad guys over there making it not so nice for everybody."

Sgt. Minard was wounded Oct. 1 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad:

NBC News

Sgt. Michael Minard

Sgt. Minard: "Just continue taking care of the soldiers overseas, you know. Send them care packages, take care of them. They need all the support they can get to get through what's going on over there."

Sgt. Minard: "Yeah, I've done three tours, and on my first tour it was pretty rough. Second tour, it got a lot better. And this last tour, obviously I didn't get to finish it, but it was going pretty well over there. It's getting better."

Sgt. Minard: "It's been really good. I've had no problems. Everything's been amazing, actually."

Pat Cassimatis: "Beer? Unfortunately not, given medications they are probably on. You wouldn't want to go there. Dinner gift certificate to some restaurant? Hey, why not?"

If you'd like to do something for the wounded soldiers at Walter Reed, just go to www.wramc.army.mil and click on "donate" in the bottom right of your screen.

If you'd like to know what you can do for all of our service members, here are some websites sent in by readers: www.anysoldier.com;  www.soldiersangels.com;  www.letssaythanks.com;  www.health.mil;  www.adoptaplatoon.com, and www.marineparents.com. If you know of similar websites, please send them to us in the comment section below.

And if you have a question you'd like me to ask the soldiers at Walter Reed, please send it to me in the same section.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/. A tribute gallery to U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

 WASHINGTON –  The only original copy of the 1297 Magna Carta outside of England was taken out of its display case at the National Archives Monday for a one-time press photo opportunity.

Archives officials admonished jostling photographers and cameramen to keep their distance from the russet-colored document, considered the foundation of English law.

"No heavy breathing or drooling on the document," teased the National Archives' Susan Cooper. The parchment may have been out of its display case, but it was still sealed in a glass-topped encasement.

Getty Images

Photographers point their cameras to a 1297 version of Magna Carta during a press viewing of the document at the National Archives on March 3 in Washington, DC.  Â

This copy of the Magna Carta – the only one in private hands – was owned for centuries by an English family, the Brudenells. Texas billionaire Ross Perot bought it for $1.5 million in 1984 from relatives of the family and loaned it in 1985 to the National Archives, but he terminated the loan last year, took back the document, and sold it at auction for $21.3 million to David Rubenstein, managing director of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm in Washington, D.C.

Rubenstein arranged for the Magna Carta to be placed on permanent display in the West Rotunda Gallery of the Archives.

"To me, the only place that's appropriate for the Magna Carta in the United States is the National Archives," Rubenstein said.

Archivist Allen Weinstein said he expects the Magna Carta to remain on public display at the archives for at least the next 500 years.

"This great charter of freedoms has had a profound and lasting influence on our charters of freedom – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights – all of which are on permanent display in the Rotunda of this building," said Weinstein.

After the brief photo-op, the Magna Carta went back into its display case and will be back on public display March 12. The other three original copies of the 1297 Magna Carta remain firmly in English hands.