April 2003 President's Corner

Bob Schultz '71, USNAAA Atlanta Chapter President

I will skip my usual summary of upcoming events and activities this month and get right to the important issue of the day. As I wrote my column last month, President and Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush had just given Iraq it’s final deadline to completely disarm or face invasion by a coalition force lead by the United States and Great Britain.

Not wanting to “share” my cold with my co-workers at the office, I am working in my home office today. This has given me the luxury of watching some of the morning news coverage of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I couldn’t have picked a better day. It is 10:50AM and I have just witnessed on live television the toppling of a large statue of Saddam Hussein that stood in Firdos Square outside of the Palestine Hotel in downtown Baghdad. This is the building where many journalists and news correspondents were required to stay by the now defunct Iraqi government as they covered the war. The destruction of the statue was a joint effort by a throng of excited Iraqi citizens, U.S. armed forces, and a Hercules recovery vehicle (a vehicle designed to pull disabled tanks and such out of trouble). It was both a symbolic and historic moment. I am sure that these images will be replayed by the media all around the world. It is certainly etched indelibly in my mind!

Just a few hours earlier this morning ABC news correspondent Richard Engel, reporting from the roof of the Palestine Hotel, expressed concern that the situation there was rapidly changing. U.S. forces were getting very close and he was concerned that in a last ditch effort the Iraqis that had controlled all the journalists in the hotel might round them up or take them hostage. No less than an hour later, a much relieved Richard Engel was relaying pictures of U.S. armed forces in M1A1 Abrams tanks and M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles parked on the street right in front of the hotel. Shortly thereafter, Iraqi citizens started coming out of their residences, cheering, waving their shirts, and greeting the U.S. soldiers with words of thanks and gratitude, and even flowers. Once the initial tension was broken the attention of the Iraqi citizens quickly focused on the statue of Saddam. The statue didn’t last long!

It has been a mere three weeks since the word to “go” was received and Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced. In such a relatively short period of time our armed forces moved from the outer borders of Iraq to downtown Baghdad. I really don’t have the words to express my gratitude and appreciation to our troops for their dedication to duty, their exceptional performance in combat, their precision attacks and constant regard for minimizing civilian casualties. I believe the conduct of our troops has demonstrated to the world that, even at war, we are a compassionate and ethical people

No war is without cost, and we still have a way to go. The last American casualty figures I saw today were these: 96 killed in action, 155 wounded in action, 8 missing in action, and 7 prisoners of war. These are the true heroes, those who give full meaning to the phrase “freedom in not free”.

I have just two opportunities left to address the Atlanta Chapter in this forum as Chapter President before my term expires in mid-June. I hope that in that time we will see the end of the armed conflict in Iraq and much progress made toward the establishment of a new government for the people of Iraq.

God bless America, and God bless our troops defending freedom around the world.

Robert R. Schultz ’71