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| Search for Saddam Ends in 4th Infantry Division's Backyard |
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| By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Bennett / 367th Mobile Public Affairs |
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AD DAWR, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2003 – The image of a bearded and bowed Saddam Hussein, captured Dec. 13 in this small farming village, is now a worldwide phenomenon.
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| Saddam's Makeshift Kitchen |
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However, the final chapter in the ousted dictator’s apprehension has been a story of patience and persistence for members of the 4th Infantry Division and Taskforce Ironhorse.
“It feels good,” said Spc. Michael Tillery, a 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment member from Alexandria, Va. who participated in the successful raid. “All the work has paid off and that one step is finally over – finding Saddam.” More
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| 4th Infantry Div. Troops Knew 'Something Major' was in the Air |
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| By Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service |
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2003 — It was the height of irony. Soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division were huddled around television screens in Saddam Hussein's opulent palace in Tikrit, Iraq, watching the Dec. 14 announcement that a division task force had pulled the former dictator from a hole in the ground beneath a hovel just nine miles away.
As the news broke, cheers and applause thundered through the marble corridors of the palace, now headquarters for the Fort Hood, Texas-based division.
"It was an unbelievable feeling," said Sgt. Billy Atkinson from the 124th Signal Battalion "I couldn't believe it until I actually saw it on the news."
Most of the troops watching coalition and military leaders describe Saddam's capture had little or no advance warning. But many said they knew that something was in the air. More
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| 'WE GOT HIM' |
4th Infantry Captures Saddam
In Remote Village Near Tikrit |
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| By Jim Garamone / American Forces Press Service |
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WASHINGTON,
Dec. 14, 2003 — With three words – "We got him" – Ambassador
L. Paul Bremer III announced at a press briefing in Baghdad today
that U.S. forces had captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein near
his hometown of Tikrit.
Saddam was taken into custody at a small mud-walled compound outside the village of Ad Dwar at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 13.
About 600 members of the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, along with special operations forces, launched Operation Red Dawn after receiving intelligence that Saddam was in the area, said Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in the country. More
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Holiday Spirit
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| Lt. Col. Steven Keith, a U.S. Air Force chaplain, hands out homemade cookies donated by Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to security forces troop Airman 1st Class Joseph Murphy on duty at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, Dec. 10, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lisa M. Zunzanyika |
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| Iraq Job Fair Links Workers, Employers |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2003 — The soldiers of Task Force 1st Armored Division’s 352nd Civil Affairs Command and the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, both from Riverdale, Md., coordinated a job fair recently at the Baghdad Convention Center.
Charged to manage the Iraqi Assistance Center, the civil affairs soldiers help Iraqis with medical issues, search for family members who may be detainees, compensation for damage that may have occurred during a military operation and job
assistance. More |
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New Sgt. Maj. of the Army
Reflects on Role in Iraq
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 WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2003 (Army News Service) — Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Preston had one regret when he found out that he was going to be the 13th sergeant major of the Army: he would have to pack up and leave his troops in Iraq.
Preston, who served in a dual role as the command sergeant major of the Germany-based V Corps and the Combined Joint Task Force 7 in Baghdad, said there's always some reservation when you have to leave before the rest of the team. "However, the good news is the soldiers that I deployed there with will be going home within the next 30 to 45 days," he said. More |
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Navy's Master Chief Petty Officer
Visits Enterprise Crew
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USS ENTERPRISE, Dec. 16, 2003 (NNS) -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry Scott visited sailors from USS Enterprise Dec. 12 during the ship’s port visit to Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates.
Scott opened his remarks by commenting on the job Enterprise sailors are doing in the war on terrorism. “I don’t think anybody has had forces over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa all at the same time before. When I hear about Enterprise doing it, it fills me with a great amount of pride and satisfaction knowing the great work all of you are doing out here.” More |
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| Global War on Terrorism |
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| On Iraq |
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| Military News |
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| KC-10 Crew Flies
Flag of Hope |
 OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Dec. 16 , 2003 (AFPN) — A KC-10 Extender crew at a forward-deployed location carried a special message of hope and peace on their flight over Iraq on Dec. 9.
As part of the project “Hands on America,” the crew displayed from their boom window an 86-by-76-inch American Flag hand-crafted by Iowa school students. In doing so, the crew became part of a larger effort to honor the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, and their families, and the continuing war on terror. More
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Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld
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“The global war on terror continues. The capture of Saddam Hussein is important, but the war on terror is not about one man and it is not about one country….We still face terrorists…who seek to harm our people. And the war on terror will not be over until those terrorists have been defeated.” |
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Remarks during Pentagon briefing, Dec. 16, 2003 |
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| U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Rebekah Caruso, a sailor aboard USS Enterprise in the Arabian Gulf supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, sends holiday greetings home to her loved ones. U.S. Navy Photo by Seaman Justin N. McGarry |
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BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Dec . 15, 2003 -- The coalition in Afghanistan remembers what we are fighting for; we remember the thousands of victims of terrorism, here and abroad.
In coordination with the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan, Combined Joint Task Force 180 continues to train the Afghan National Army, provide civil affairs support, and disrupt, deny, and destroy terrorist and anti-ITGA forces in order to establish a stable and secure Afghanistan. More |
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| Profile |
U.S. Air Force
Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Estrem |
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 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Dec. 11, 2003 — Like so many people who enlist in the military, Kevin Estrem was going to do his four years and get out.
One of only two in his high school graduating class to join the military, the 18-year-old left his hometown of about 1,500 people Oct. 25, 1972 , for Air Force Basic Military Training.
"Four years max and I'm home," thought the Kenyon, Minn. , native. "I told my girlfriend I didn't want any commitments..I just want to go in and have this over with and then I'll come home." More |
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Concerned Trooper Finds
Donations for Sadr City School |
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Fox Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Task Force 1st Armored Division, delivered over 225 kilograms of school supplies to the Al Razi School throughout November. The boxes contained notebooks, paper, scissors, glue, tape, crayons, markers, book bags, and thousands of pens and pencils, all donated by citizens of the United States. The school headmaster, Mr. Jassim Mohammed, was extremely grateful for the gift. More
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Marines, West Va. Army
Reservists Build 'Joint' Camp |
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Twelfth-Grade Winners
Offer Their Insights |
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| WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2003 — Nicole Tidwell from Decatur, Ala., wrote in the Weekly Reader’s Operation Tribute to Freedom essay contest that she is “forever in debt to the people that have died and are still dying for…every freedom that I am privileged to have.” More More essays |
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2003 — Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, hosts of the popular morning talk show, "Live with Regis and Kelly," will feature televised holiday greetings from deployed U.S. troops to their loved ones and friends at home throughout Christmas week.
CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti, Dec. 15, 2003 -- Marine and Army engineer units of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa flexed their joint muscles to complete a construction and refurbishment project on a new command operations center.