NEWS
DECEMBER 15, 2011
As Valiant Troops Return From Iraq, 'Thank You' is Front of Mind
By Tom Sileo
Communications Director, Travis Manion Foundation
Editor, The Unknown Soldiers
On December 15, 2011, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced an official end to the Iraq war at a ceremony in Baghdad.
"No words, no ceremony, can provide full tribute to the sacrifices that have brought this day to pass," Panetta said. "To be sure the cost was high -- in blood and treasure for the United States, and for the Iraqi people. Those lives were not lost in vain. They gave birth to an independent, free and sovereign Iraq."
First Lt. Travis Manion is one of nearly 4,500 American troops who made the ultimate sacrifice during America's second war in Iraq. Like his fellow fallen brothers and sisters in arms, Travis cared deeply about the mission on the ground, regardless of rhetorical background noise, and spent the last days of his life helping fellow U.S. troops, the Iraqi military, and Iraqi civilians find a bright path to freedom through war's dark shadows.
Danger remained for American forces until the end of the 8 1/2 year conflict, as the Nov. 14 combat death of Spc. David Hickman in Baghdad tragically showed us. But even tomorrow, when Americans wake up for the first time since early 2003 without their fellow Americans fighting in Iraq, the mission continues.
The war in Iraq will never end for the thousands of families who lost loved ones there. Tens of thousands of troops wounded during the conflict still see the war in Iraq every day. And hundreds of thousands more who fought there live with the images of battle, with some suffering from invisible wounds of war.
The Travis Manion Foundation exists to make sure our troops, including those still fighting in Afghanistan, as well as their families, combat veterans, and families of the fallen, are honored, remembered, and assisted on a daily basis. As Travis would have wanted, the "If Not Me, Then Who..." mission of honoring the fallen by challenging the living will press forward long after Dec. 15, 2011, and whatever the date marking the official end to the war in Afghanistan winds up being.
We hope you will join us in thanking the men and women who stepped up to shoulder the incredible burdens of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. Like the name of the continuing mission in Afghanistan -- Operation Enduring Freedom -- the legacy of freedom built by these brave volunteer warriors will always endure.
