The coals of the family barbeque grill are cold and the bargains obtained during the weekend's Memorial Day sales have been stowed in shoppers' closets and dresser drawers. As another work week begins, things have returned to normal.

Unless, of course, you have a loved one serving in Iraq. Nine U.S. soldiers died there last week, brining the total number of American dead to more than 1,600. Thousands more have been wounded and will return home minus one or more limbs.

Our point in bringing this up is that while it is good to remember the sacrifices of those who served in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, the veterans of Iraq will need more than a once-a-year remembrance when they come home.

They will need medical care of the best kind and state-of-the-art devices to replace the arms and legs they've lost. They will need hospitals and convalescent centers devoted to the care of those hurt in combat.

That's why the news that federal official plan to close Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. is so troubling.

Pentagon officials told The Washington Post that the center would be closed by 2010 and that many of the jobs would be transferred to the Bethesda (Md.) National Naval Hospital and to Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Va.

According to the Post article, to handle the shift of up to 11,000 jobs to Belvoir, the Army has budgeted $125 million for infrastructure improvements. It has also budgeted millions more to expand the Bethesda facility.

We understand that unlike, for example, college classrooms, medical facilities have limited useful lives. Technology changes and at some point, retrofitting a hospital is more expensive than building a new facility.

However, every American should demand that as millions are being spent, the federal government make this promise: No soldier wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan will get less than the best medical care available, no matter what it costs.

During World War II, the families back home did without a variety of items so the troops could have what they needed. Goods such as sugar, coffee and gasoline were rationed.

That's what is needed now - a patriotic promise by all citizens to sacrifice a bit of comfort or money so that the soldiers who were wounded get first-class care. Anything less is unacceptable.