Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Spc. Scott Coleman, a native of Mayville, N.D., tosses a soccer ball to an Iraqi child...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Thanks to combined efforts of U.S. forces and the Iraqi community, the children of Abu Ghraib have two new places where they can safely play.
Local leaders from the Abu Ghraib area, along with Lt. Col. John Leffers, commander, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, and native of Utica, N.Y., attended the opening ceremony of a soccer field and a playground, here, in central Abu Ghraib, Nov.10.
The soccer field and playground, funded by the Commander's Emergency Response Program and sponsored by the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sports, cost approximately $20,000 and $40,000 respectively, and were contracted through two different sources.
Sheikh Qassim, a member of the Abu Ghraib council, cut the ribbon to the soccer field, opening the field to the public.
After the ribbon cutting, Soldiers from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, were swarmed by local children as they handed out soccer balls to celebrate the opening of the new field. Claiming their new toys, the children ran and played on the field.
Just a short walk away from the new soccer field, the ribbon to a new playground was also cut. Children flooded the grounds, rushing to climb on the new equipment. They slid down a giant yellow slide and took turns swinging on primary colored swings.
"These new areas will provide a place for children to play and build friendships with other villages' children who hopefully come [to the soccer field and playground]," said Col. Sabah Mahmoud Ala Bid, an Abu Ghraib police station commander.
First Sgt. Charles Tennant, a native of Buhl, Idaho, said the opening of a soccer field and a colorful park, with senior council members present, showed two things.
"One, the senior leadership of this city is vastly interested, involved and driven in providing a better community by creating jobs which create the projects that improve the city as a whole," Tennant said. "Second, it sends a loud and resounding statement to all those who create this terror that the Iraqi people have lived with for years: We fight for our freedoms, our children and our choice. It shows the terrorists they cannot stop forward progress and they have not won, and they will not."
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2009 04:50 |
| Story ID: | 41582 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 254 |
| Downloads: | 220 |
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