The elite KSK force is preparing for deployment
Mr Schroeder said that solidarity was "not a one-way street" and reminded the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, of America's support in rehabilitating Germany after World War II.
Mr Schroeder, who wants parliament to approve a 12 month deployment, stressed that they would not be put in the combat zone.
The cabinet gave its approval to the military commitment in a meeting on Wednesday.
Addressing doubts
While the conservative opposition has guaranteed its support for the move there are doubts within the ranks of Mr Schroeder's own Social Democrats.
The junior partner in his coaltion, the Greens, is even more deeply split on the issue given the party's roots in the pacifist movement.
Mr Schroeder sought to persuade sceptics by putting Germany's military commitment within the context of the United Nations and Nato responses to the attacks on the United States.
"We are fulfiling what is expected of us and carrying out what is objectively possible and what is politically responsible in this situation," he said.
He also emphasised that the military campaign was only one strand of the war against terror and said they must undertake "long-term efforts on many levels to meet this challenge".
He also asked people not to forget the horror they felt on 11 September, calling the crashing of hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon "barbaric attacks".
"I can understand when many individuals, in view of the horror of the images that one cannot look at daily tend towards denial... But that cannot be the guiding principle for political decisions," he said.
He called the military deployment Germany's "practical contribution to solidarity".
Deep divides
The German Foreign Minister and most prominent Green party member, Joschka Fischer, has given his firm support to the military mission despite his party's doubts.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported Mr Fischer had even threatened he might leave the party if it failed to back the force.
Divides are also evident in the general public.
An opinion poll published on Wednesday found 51% in favour and 46% against Germany's involvement in the campaign.
Anti-war sentiments in Germany have run deep since the end of World War II, and for decades the country avoided any foreign military engagements.
Germany's post-war constitution banned the use of the armed forces in international disputes, but a 1994 Constitutional Court ruling made it possible for troops to be deployed abroad under certain conditions.
The court ruled that military actions had to be justified in international law, and to be carried out in co-operation with allies.
In recent years, German forces have played a significant role in peacekeeping in the Balkans, and currently command the operation in Macedonia.