Every day, when I get to work and flip the switch on my computer, I come face to face with the image of Private First Class Cody Grater, posing under the famous Hands of Victory crossed swords monument in Baghdad. He’s replete in full army gear, holding his rifle, finger poised on the trigger. Cody died on July 29, 2007 when his guard position was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. But in the image that greets me every morning, Cody is very much alive, looking at me as I start my work day, almost challenging me as he stands beneath the huge archway that Saddam Hussein had fabricated to commemorate his army’s victory over Iran.