You know, the Berkeley California City Council is doing everything they can to throw out a Marine recruiting station....and the Mayor of Toledo is opposed to Marines training in "his" town....well, at least the folks down in El Paso Texas have their heads on right. Story about what is probably the biggest welcome home parade for Iraq War veterans here.
Here's a couple of extracts from the story by Donna Miles of the Armed Forces Press Service:
- EL PASO, Texas, Feb. 28, 2008 – The 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team may be a relative newcomer here, but more than 3,000 of the unit’s soldiers got a Texas-sized hometown heroes’ welcome yesterday as the city hosted a homecoming parade to honor them for their service in Iraq.
- Mayor John Cook came up with the idea of welcoming the returning troops with what’s thought to be the biggest parade yet for returning Iraq war veterans. A Vietnam veteran, Cook said he remembers returning from home in 1970, only to have protesters pelt the bus he and his fellow soldiers were traveling in with eggs.
- The parade’s festive tone turned solemn as 31 riderless horses came into view, empty boots reversed in the stirrups in tribute to the 31 4-1 Cavalry soldiers lost in Iraq. Each horse, provided by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Posse, was draped with a patriotic saddle blanket and the name of a fallen soldier.
- “This is a great town. The people here are great. You have people who are not for the war and some who are for the war, but all of them are for the soldier,” Twitty said. “I’ve been in the Army going on 23 years and moved 14 times, and I have never in my military career seen a city embrace its military personnel like El Paso has.”
Way to go El Paso! And welcome home Troopers!
Army Col. Stephen Twitty leads more than 3,000 of his soldiers through the streets of downtown El Paso, Texas, during a Welcome Home Heroes Parade Feb. 27, 2008. Twitty is commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt Paula Taylor
The patrols continue....
U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Saladin leads the rear element as he patrols an alleyway in the Rusafa neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 17, 2008. Saladin and his fellow soldiers are from the Armyís 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (Released