They stood to attention, men of duty who are once again answering the call for America, a band of brothers who exemplify how the few are doing so much for the many of this land.

These 16 serve in the storied Fighting 69th as members of New York's Army National Guard, and they are deploying on a year's mission that will take them to Afghanistan for some tough anti-terror work.

In them, we have much to be thankful for. We who will shop for the holidays, hurry to jobs, walk our dogs, tuck in our children and rest beside our spouses. We who will reap the benefits of the bravery and sacrifices of others.

The Fighting 69th marked the impending deployment with family and friends at the armory on Lexington Ave. Uniformed in camouflage fatigues, the unit formed ranks in a hall that was a gathering place for the loved ones of the missing after 9/11.

Their service records are singularly impressive. Most were mobilized after 9/11. They witnessed the devastation of the attack, some as members of the Police and Fire departments.

And then many did tours in Iraq, where the 69th's task force lost 11 men. Now, the mission is in the country where Al Qaeda plotted to turn airliners into missiles, killing 2,750 people here and more at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field.

Each soldier deserves mention, both as his own man and as a representative of the tens of thousands who have shouldered the burden of war. The roll:

Sgt. David McNamee, a detective in the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, was with the Marines in Operation Desert Storm.

Sgt. Sean Markham, a full-time Guard member, served in the infantry in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. John Byrnes, a freelance writer, was in Somalia as a Marine and was a radioman in Iraq who performed medic duties under fire.

Staff Sgt. Jonathan Herbst, a member of an NYPD burglary squad, did a tour in Baghdad.

Staff Sgt. Timothy Wiwczar owns a Long Island building firm and deployed to Iraq in 2005.

Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Gross, a civil engineer, led a squad in Iraq.

1st Sgt. Michael O'Brien, a member of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, was a Marine paratrooper who saw duty during the crisis in Lebanon and went to Iraq in 2004.

1st Lt. Jose Cruz has led rifle platoons and mortar sections.

1st Lt. Carl Jeremie is an armored-vehicle expert.

1st Lt. Troy Benton runs a Manhattan information technology firm and will be the unit's intelligence expert.

1st Lt. Chuck Wasilewski is assigned to FDNY Engine 714 in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He's skilled in mountain warfare.

1st Lt. Mike Farina, risk analyst at Ernst & Young and student at Fordham's graduate business school, is a military police officer.

1st Lt. Joseph Minning was a platoon leader in Baghdad who plans to join the NYPD.

Capt. Brian Higgins is an NYPD officer in the Bronx who led a 40-man platoon on hundreds of patrols in Iraq.

Maj. Kevin Perrin is a chief planning officer.

Maj. Vincent Heintz is an ex-prosecutor in the Bronx and Manhattan who is a lawyer for UBS and led men into combat in Iraq.

The men will spend two months in intensive training at Fort Riley in Kansas. Then they will go to Afghanistan - not to kill, if they can avoid it, but to help the Afghans stand against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. They will join Task Force Phoenix as an Embedded Training Team, assisting the Afghan National Army and Police with combating insurgents and bringing order to a struggling democracy and to a people victimized by decades of strife.

It will be tough work, 10 months in relentlessly dangerous conditions, work that's vital to the national security. Far, far from home, they will go above and beyond, as so many others have gone above and beyond, for all of us who take so much for granted.

They go with our prayers and gratitude. Godspeed to all.