An op/ed today in the Washington Post by two men who might not have published their bylines together just last year brings a refreshing morale to the wartime situation.

Lt. Pete Hegseth, executive director of pro-troops group Vets for Freedom and Maj. Gen John Batiste (ret.), who, as of June 2007 was a board member for the anti-Iraq war group VoteVets.org, came together in a spirit of unity to stop prosecuting the past and look toward success. Both men are veterans of the Iraq war and know the situation better than most.

Vets for Freedom and VoteVets come from opposite sides so for these two to come together is a major point of encouragement, mostly because Batiste seems to have shifted from the somewhat extremist views of VoteVets.

Cliff May, writing at NROs The Corner, said this: If Batiste has indeed broken with VoteVets.org that is news but perhaps no surprise. VoteVets.org is an extremist group a MoveOn.org clone that favors Americas defeat and humiliation in Iraq, seeking both ideological and partisan benefits.

Hegseth and Batiste write:

We are veterans of the Iraq war with vastly different experiences. Both of us commanded troops in Iraq. We, too, held seemingly entrenched, and incompatible, views upon our return. One of us spoke out against mismanagement of the war — failed leadership, lack of strategy and misdirection. The other championed the cause of successfully completing our mission.

Our perspectives were different, yet not as stark as the “outspoken general” and “stay-the-course supporter” labels we received. Such labels are oversimplified and inaccurate, and we are united behind a greater purpose.

America’s veterans — young and old — are resolved to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. This commitment, and nothing less, should compel us to stand together, in and out of uniform. Would that Congress finds the courage to bury its pride and do the same.

Check out the whole thing to read five main topics to help us keep focused on moving forward.