Posted on 03/12/2004 12:46:49 PM PST by saquin
BALAD, Iraq — As a crowd of Iraqis clapped and cheered, leaders of the 4th Infantry Division unit that brought calm to this city gave a gift meant to symbolize peace and friendship.
Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman and Capt. Matt Cunningham — battalion and company commanders from the 4th ID’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment — presented a statue of a dove flying above a map of Iraq. It stands atop a red-tile pedestal and fountain built by local artisans.
The officers dedicated the statue to 1,500 men, women and children from the Shiite city of 170,000 who were slaughtered by Saddam Hussein’s regime after an assassination attempt against the former Iraqi dictator in Balad in 1982.
They also dedicated it to widows and victims of Saddam’s torture campaign; an Iraqi police chief and six officers killed by a bomb in January; and two American soldiers — Capt. Eric Paliwoda and Staff Sgt. Dale Panchot — killed in the Balad area.
“This sculpture represents all the sacrifices this city has made since 1982, and their friendship during the past year,” Cunningham said.
The city was rife with violence when the 1-8 Infantry arrived last June to set up Forward Operating Base Eagle (later renamed Paliwoda in honor of the slain officer).
With aggressive raids and patrols, and creation of a strong informants’ network, the unit was able to capture or kill most of the insurgents.
By October, Balad was peaceful enough to hold the first free elections in Iraq.
Children waved at soldiers aboard 1-8 Infantry’s four Bradley fighting vehicles as they roared down the street to the ceremony, held at a crossroads in the city center decorated with flags of red, green and black.
Several Balad dignitaries spoke, presenting Sassaman and Cunningham with bronze clocks as gifts. They thanked the Iraqis and introduced Capt. Henry Delacruz, company commander from Task Force 1-77, the 1st Infantry Division unit taking over at Paliwoda this week.
“I want these children, and my daughter, to live in a world free of terror,” Cunningham said. “[Balad] is a model for the security of the whole country. I’m confident the new unit will build on our foundation.”
Cunningham’s father, Jim, a retired physiology professor from East Lansing, Mich., designed, built and donated the sculpture. He built it four years ago when his son was assigned to the Sinai to commemorate soldiers from the multinational peacekeeping force who had died there.
“To him, it was a way of contributing to my peacekeeping efforts,” Capt. Cunningham said later. “He’s really happy to participate in bridging the gap.”
Matt Cunningham, commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, spoke Thursday at the dedication of a peace sculpture to the citizens of Balad, Iraq. The 1-8 Infantry arrived in Balad last June and has since smashed a once-active insurgency and presided over the first free elections in the country.
Dozens of Balad's citizens Thursday clamored to pose with Capt. Matt Cunningham, commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, the 4th Infantry Division unit that has brought peace and free elections to this Iraqi city of 170,000 since the chaos of last summer. Cunningham and the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman, dedicated the peace sculpture — designed and built by Cunningham's father, Jim — as a farewell gift to the people of Balad. The 1-8 Infantry is returning home to Fort Carson, Colo., next week, and turning over its duties in Balad to Task Force 1-77, a 1st Infantry Division unit from Schweinfurt, Germany.
Iraqi schoolgirls attended the dedication of a peace monument at a crossroads in the center of Balad, a predominantly Shiite city of 170,000 50 miles north of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle.
Balad artisans painted this inscription on the pedestal of the sculpture.
Well Done! Now come on home!!!
Wonder if this ceremony will be televised by the major networks and covered by the mainstream media??? I for one wouldn't bet on it!!
Compare that with what I just read over on DU. Truly saddening. I really feel sorry for this mans sons. Wish there was some way to give them the guidance that they need. Obviously his older son started out on the right foot but was corrupted by the old man.
FROM DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND:
about once a month, the u.s. government calls here, asking for my son to enlist. the last several times, i picked up the phone and yelled '---- ---!" and slammed it down. today, he received his official registration notice, so i guess by law, he has to sign up.
my oldest son, who is 33 now, wanted to join up during the first bushwar, out of a sense of misguided patriotism i think, and i talked him out of it, pointing out that the cause was not a noble one.
i remember during the viet nam draft, many men i knew did everything imaginable to avoid being drafted, including one guy who shot himself in the foot. (didn't help) and another guy who tried to act gay. and one more who pretended to be nuts.
dick cheney got about 5 student deferments, ("I had other priorities") and i was wondering what legal deferment options i might take advantage of, besides the student one.
i thought since i was a crippled up old man, i might make him my legal 'assistant helper' or whatever the terminology is.
if my son wants to enlist, i won't stop him, only discourage him from it. but i don't want my son to be sent against his will to fight and die for an evil purpose, namely, the enrichment of billionaire maniacs.
if anyone knows, or remembers, i'd like to know just what the deferment options are. if dick cheney can do it, i want my son to have the same breaks.
You are right, only registration is required. And deferments for school have changed significantly (basically not there any more). And his idea of designating his son as a "legal assistant helper" won't go very far either, especially if there is anyone who could be considered a helper "legally defined" or not.
We should email Fox or Hannity to show this. Our soldiers never get credit for all the positive things they do there.
At least once a week - there should be some time devoted to them.
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