Posted on 12/03/2004 4:17:04 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
RIO GRANDE CITY — Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said Thursday he was glad to be home after serving as the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
"It’s always great to be in Texas, especially back in the Valley," said Sanchez, who attended a parade marshal reception Thursday night in his honor at the Twin Ballroom. The general is scheduled to serve as parade marshal today in the city’s annual Christmas parade.
This morning he is scheduled to walk with other city officials to the middle of the Starr-Camargo International Bridge and meet with Camargo city leaders before having breakfast at the Tijerina Complex.
Later today, he will appear at a formal dedication of an elementary school named after him, then have lunch with the Rio Grande City Rotary Club.
Security was tight at the event Thursday night, with U.S. Border Patrol agents, Rio Grande City police officers and Starr County Sheriff’s deputies maintaining a heavy presence. Stiff-lipped Secret Service agents also kept a close watch on the general as he shook hands and took pictures with local residents, some of whom knew him growing up.
"We lived in the same neighborhood," said Dora Aguilar, president of the RGC Chamber of Commerce, which coordinated the event.
"We are really excited," Aguilar said. "We haven’t seen him in a long time."
Sanchez, 53, was born and raised here in extreme poverty and went on to become a threestar general. He was the top U.S. commander in Iraq when Allied forces took out Saddam Hussein’s two sons, Udai and Qusai, in July 2003.
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured the following December while Sanchez was still in command. He was also in command during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
Sanchez remained composed as members of the press descended on him at the Twin Ballroom.
He said the ongoing investigation would prove he had no knowledge of the prisoner abuse scandal and it would not adversely affect his career.
"I’m in command of the V Corps in Germany," he said. "I will continue to serve at least a couple of years and I will do whatever my country asks me to do."
Sanchez expressed a great deal of admiration for the Iraqi people.
"I clearly remember the poverty," he said. "The people are a very freedom-loving people, they love education, they are very resilient, but they also have a deep-seated resentment toward those that have oppressed them in the past."
He said he and other U.S. officials had expected attacks by insurgents with the approach of elections next year.
"It’s very difficult to describe this enemy," Sanchez said. "It’s a very brutal enemy, very difficult to understand their thought processes and it would be very difficult to change their minds."
However, the war in Iraq is winnable, he said.
U.S. and coalition forces will have to work hard with the Iraqi people to achieve stability, he said, and there must be elections to bring legitimacy to the new government in that country.
Sanchez reflected on the fact that he’s come home from serving in Iraq to the place where he first began his journey there.
"The first time I put on a uniform, I was a sophomore in high school," Sanchez said. "As I was driving in, I looked at Fort Ringgold, and it brings back memories. For 31 years I’ve been in uniform, it’s very special to be back here where it all started."
There are many things Sanchez remembers about growing up in Rio Grande City. Last Christmas, he said in a phone interview from Iraq that he missed his mother’s tamales. That’s won’t be an issue this year — she’s seen to that.
"I saw them already," he said with a laugh. "They are sitting there waiting for me."
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Travis M. Whitehead covers Mission, Starr County, and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4452.
South Texas Ping!
Sadly, he won't get his well earned 4th star because of the Abu Ghraib thing..he's been smeared because of it. What CD is he in..is that one that still has a Dem congresscritter...YOu need to start a movement to draft him.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez...
(((:::crisp salute, sir::::)))
Rio Grande City is in the new CD 25 with Lloyd Dog get!
Second the motion!
Viva Sanchez!
Otra vez...Viva Sanchez!
Rio Grande City has an amazing history.
General Sanchez, welcome home! We salute you, sir.
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