FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (CNS) -- At the July 21, 2010 Eagle Remembrance Ceremony for nine fallen Fort Campbell soldiers, families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice paused in front of portraits of their loved ones to embrace and wipe away tears while members of the standing room only crowd did the same.  "It's really hard to even imagine what they're going through," Lt. Col. Joel Hamby said of the families. "There aren't any words. I've never been able to find the right words to say in something like that. The words are just inadequate."

Hamby, who has lost several friends during the United States' nine-year war in Afghanistan, said the sacrifices become much more real "when you can actually put a face to it." "These are our friends. These are the people we raise our kids with," he said.

The remembrance ceremony was the largest since the Screaming Eagles of the Army's 101st Airborne Division returned to Afghanistan in January. "It's been a rough couple of months," said Hamby, an officer with the division's rear detachment, and "it's only going to get worse" as more Fort Campbell troops are set to deploy.

Since March, 36 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have been killed. Five of the nine men remembered July 21 were from Capt. John Peters' battalion. While the loss of any life is devastating, he said, the soldiers "know the dangers of the profession and most wouldn't rather be doing anything else."

While more politicians and pundits have recently begun questioning whether the lives lost and billions of dollars spent in Afghanistan are worth it, the soldiers remain confident that they are making positive strides there.