Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans, citizens-These new Americans already have defended their nation


From the Post-Gazette. Remember to thank a veteran today.

Lost among the countless stories covering the historic election of the next leader of our nation was the account last Tuesday of 186 men and women in Baghdad who were awarded what Justice Louis Brandeis once termed "the only title in our democracy superior to that of president"-- citizen.

Given a brief respite from their daily duties braving innumerable dangers to bring peace and stability to cities and towns across Iraq, a remarkable group of foreign-born soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines converged on Baghdad for a ceremony at the U.S. headquarters in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. Before an American flag hanging from the ceiling of the palace's cavernous rotunda, they held up their right hands and swore allegiance to a nation for which they already were risking their lives. They came from 60 different countries across the globe and, standing together in a formation surrounded by Saddam's marbled columns, they became the newest additions to the beautiful mosaic of American citizenry.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08316/926890-109.stm

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