Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration

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Command Sgt. Maj. Julia Kelley, left, of the 229th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, weeps as she watches the inauguration of President Barack Obama at Camp Liberty in Baghdad on Jan. 20.


Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration
By Maya Alleruzzo - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 18:51:00 EST

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Army Sgt. James Bishop wiped away tears while he watched Barack Obama take the presidential oath Tuesday and wished his mother had lived to see a fellow black assume their nation’s highest office.

“My mother always wanted to be here,” said Bishop, 39, from Washington, D.C., who watched the ceremony on TV at Camp Liberty on the western edge of Baghdad.

“She always wanted this to happen, and she said it was going to happen one day,” he added. “Unfortunately, she passed before this time came.”

Across Iraq, many of the 140,000 U.S. military personnel watched the inaugural ceremony on television sets in dining halls and break rooms or over the Web at large installations with Internet service.

About 25 soldiers from the 299th Brigade Support Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division gathered in the chaplain’s office at Camp Liberty, watching the ceremony and munching snacks donated by Americans back home.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_troops_iraq_obama_012009w/%2e