Tears of joy welled up in the eyes of former American hostage Jill Carroll on Monday as she reunited with her coworkers. We could see it live on television.

But when no one was watching, American tears spread from the Iraqi desert to the desert in Arizona on Monday.

Carroll&8217;s freedom truly is something to celebrate. Anytime an American abroad loses his or her freedom and then regains it, our nation gets choked up a bit, rightly so.

The national spotlight shined brightly on Carroll&8217;s pretty, bookish face during the 82 days of her captivity.

As the tears flowed in the newsroom of The Christian Science Monitor, tears also flowed in Silver Spring, Md., Mesa, Ariz., and Richmond, Va.

Those cities were home to Staff Sgt. Robert Hernandez, Pfc. Joseph J. Duenas and Pfc. Jeremy W. Ehle, respectively. The three were among the latest U.S. troops to die in Iraq.

Most likely only friends and family will remember the names of those three or the more than 2,300 military men and women who have died serving in Iraq, more than 1,800 as a result of hostile fire.

For many of us, the sacrifices fallen troops made in Iraq are almost forgotten, lost in the headlines of which college basketball team is the best or how much the price of gas is.

For that lapse in concern, we as a nation should be ashamed.

Each life is precious &8212; not just the ones which make the national headlines.