The 10th Anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom

U.S. Army Task Force Regulators 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment Staff Sgt. Fred Hampton, of Lexington, Ky., kneels on a knee to talk with a young Iraqi boy in the Thawra 1 section of the Sadr City District of Baghdad on June 20, 2008. Photo: Tech Sgt. Cohen Young, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq.



There are no words to adequately express everything conveyed by this photo (originally posted in 2008). To me, it represents the highest ideals of our country and our troops, and the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people.

Thank you to the men and women of the U.S. Military for your extraordinary achievements and sacrifices in Iraq. You have freed an entire nation from a brutal dictator and given its people a chance for freedom and self-determination. The rest is up to them.

Major Hans Bakken, a U.S. Army neurosurgeon from Decorah, Iowa, enters a surgical ward March 16, 2006 in Balad, Iraq. Balad was one of the primary hospitals for troops and civilians injured in Iraq. Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images.
We will always remember your courage and your bravery, and we will never forget our debt of gratitude to all of you, especially the wounded and the Fallen. We pray for you and your families every day. May God bless you all.

"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
- Ronald Reagan

A photo essay of 10 years Operation Iraq Freedom can be found at the Denver Post here.