It's this kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American. It may be hard for some people to reconcile the Abu Ghraib military from the humanitarian service military, but there it is. It's not all one or the other. And I like to believe it's more "other", we just never rarely read about it unless it's a major event like the Asian tsunami or Katrina. Surely this act of saving Iranian lives was worth a page A32 story in a major newspaper.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy warship helped rescue the six crewmen of an Iranian commercial boat in the Gulf after the small craft had been adrift without power for 10 days, the Navy said on Wednesday.....

"Patrolling warships are sometimes called on for humanitarian interventions," said Cmdr. Robert Randall, the U.S. ship's commanding officer. "It felt good to assist."

A boarding party from the Gonzalez gave the Iranian crew food and water, the Navy said. The U.S. sailors also inspected the dhow's cargo and engineering plant and determined the engine was beyond repair, the Navy said.

The vessel contacted Iranian officials, who picked up the crew of the craft, the Navy said.

How come there's no "proud" face in my list of mood icons? I guess I'll settle for hopeful.