With a definitive end to a nearly 20-year involvement in Afghanistan slated for September, commentators are looking back on the country’s longest conflict, its jaw-dropping $2.261 trillion price tag, and the 2,442 American military personnel who gave their lives there. Many are asking, “Was it worth it?”

We would do well to question those who oversaw the war effort and the outlay of money into a country plagued by serial corruption. The sacrifices of our war fighters, on the other hand, were never predicated on the conflict’s outcome. Their treasured, timeless gifts of selflessness cannot diminish in worth — unless by our own inability to recognize their value. To remind ourselves of the meaning in those selfless acts of service, we should seek the perspectives of those who knew, and loved, the heroes who died in Afghanistan.