- Title: IRAQ: US SOLDIERS COMMEMORATE VICTIMS OF SEPTEMBER 11 TERROR ATTACKS
- Date: 11th September 2003
- Summary: (W7) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (SEPTEMBER 11, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF US SOLDIERS AT CEREMONY SINGING THE AMERICAN NATIONAL ANTHEM ((3 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SMV COMMANDER OF THE US LAND FORCES IN IRAQ, LIEUTENANT GENERAL RICARDO SANCHEZ SINGING AMONGST THE SOLDIERS 0.22 3. WIDE OF CHANDELIER AND DECORATION IN VICTORY PALACE 0.27 4.
- Embargoed: 26th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA1TK30FSM5PNZV69N9Q10K2ZZL
- Story Text: US Soldiers in Baghdad remember the vistims of
9/11in an evening ceremony.
Soldiers from the Combined Joint Tat Force 7, the
440th Signal Batallion, the 22nd Signal Brigade and the V
Corps Special Troops Battalions held a special ceremony at
Victory Palace in Baghdad to remember those who died in the
New York attacks on September 11, 2001.
The evening began with the singing of the national
anthem in the huge hall that was once a palace for now
deposed leader Saddam Hussein.
Chaplin Ruiz prayed and the soldiers gathered in the
huge marbled hall to observe a minute of silence.
The Commander of the US land forces in Iraq, Lieutenant
General Ricardo Sanchez joined the forces for the ceremony
and listened to a poem read by Command Sergeant Major Clark.
A slide show reminded the soldiers of the tragic event
in which thousands lost their lives on September 11.
Some of the soldiers remembered their experiences on
the day of the attack.
Michael Curtis, Junior From Brooklyn, New York said "I
was actually at Fort Bragg,North Carolina, at the time and
I was in a drivers training class when I heard that the
World Trade Centre something had happened. They didn't know
exactly what had happened at the time but being from New
York I pretty much freaked out. My mother actually worked
there so it kind of hit close to home. I really freaked
out. So the first thing I did was run to the phone."
Another said he felt the war in Iraq, which US
President George Bush has justified as a "war on terror",
was necessary. But 5 months after Bush declared an end to
hostilities in Iraq he admitted to being a little worn out.
" I think we are doing a good job here. I'm just
waiting to go home," he said.
A special ceremony was then held for SPC graduating to
the rank of Noncommissioned Officers
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