Posted on 10/05/2008 10:42:33 AM PDT by Matt_Rel
Poland ended its military presence in Iraq Saturday with a ceremony for its approximately 900 troops at Camp Echo, Qadasiyah Province.
The Polish army commanded Multi-National Division - Center South, which operated throughout Qadasiyah Province.
Polish forces completed 10 rotations in Iraq, which ended October 1, and commanded 10 national contingents, including Armenia, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To the memory and honor of the Polish soldiers
who fought, worked and lost their lives in Iraq, 2003-2008
It was in the first days of the operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003. Despite numerous attempts of the British forces to take a startegic port of Um Qasr, it was still in the hands of Saddam's Republican Guard. The decision of the Allied could then be only one:
Time for special forces - time for GROM (Thunder)!
[click the picture above to see a real video of GROM's naval assault on UmQasr port]
After defeating Saddam's army, Iraq was devided into three stabilization zones: American , British and Polish, where multinational forces were also deployed under the Polish command.
From the very beginning Polish soldiers took part in combat operations against organized terrorist groups that frightened the local people.
[click the picture above to see a presentation about Polish soldiers in Iraq]
Soon the Polish in uniforms became the real nightmare for terrorists ...
....and the real hope for tormented civilians.
After tens of years of Saddam's bloody regime, medical units of the Polish Army organized health care and built hospitals and rehabilitation centers, including first ever built for the children suffering from the cerebral palsy, the children who officially never existed in Saddam's Iraq.
MISSION: COMPLETED
...TIME TO RETURN HOME!
"We will return to Iraq as tourists", said the commander of the Polish Military Mission in Iraq.
Iraqi children bid farewell to Poles with hugs and flowers
Well done, White Eagles!
Well done!
Poland is proud of you and salutes you.
Interesting about the salute, thanks.
I’m confused. Since when or when do they fly a flay with the falcon on it? I though it was just the horizontal white over red stripe?
With the falcon is cooler. Just confused.
In Poland every child is taught that a two-finger salute comes from the battle of Olszynka Grochowska.
It’s White Eagle, legends sais that when Mieszko I, first ruler of Poland baptised Poland in Gniezno (or Legnica) in 966 A.D. lots of White Eagles surrounded him. After Mieszko sweared the oath, he noticed all of the white eagles and claimed that this bird will forever be the sign of Poland.
Other legend sais: “The White Eagle emblem originated when Poland’s legendary founder Lech saw a white eagle’s nest. When he looked at the bird, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on its wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the eagle was pure white. He was delighted and decided to settle there and placed the eagle on his emblem. He also named the place Gniezdno (currently Gniezno) from the Polish word gniazdo (nest).
This tale could be considered as an allusion to the legend of the city of Rome which was founded by Romulus and Remus. Auspicium is the ancient rite of observing birds of prey flights in order to get support of gods for future arranged actions. A less romantic version assumes that Poland adopted the emblem from the Roman Empire (like many other European countries).” <— wikipedia
Anyway... It’s over one thousand years since we’ve started to use our Eagle as the coat of arms
Eagle. Right. Was thinking of that Polish Falcon thang and didn’t look
I cannot speak for every child in Poland, but I can say that also I was taught that by the Drill Sergeant who formally introduced me to military life in the Summer of 1966. A few months later, when I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, the first salute I received was from Sergeant Stanisław Kryla, given with two fingers, though he happened to be in U.S. military uniform at the time.
To this day, I consider it one of the greatest honors I've been paid.
Good tradition for Poland, a bit pretentious for some other less well-estasblished nations.
But may Poland's Eagle fly free for another thousand years!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.