Posted on Mar 21, 2023
Iraq vets reflect on a war Americans have largely put behind them
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/ [login to see] /iraq-war-veterans-20th-anniversary
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War means different things to the vets who served there.
"All of our experiences were different," says Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). "It was such a long war. Every year of the war or every phase of the war was very different."
Marine aviator Scott Cooper had a role in the war's first minutes — the initial airstrikes that attempted to end the war before it began, by killing Saddam Hussein at his Dora Farms residence. Those strikes failed, but U.S. troops took Baghdad within a month, and Cooper thought the war was over.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War means different things to the vets who served there.
"All of our experiences were different," says Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). "It was such a long war. Every year of the war or every phase of the war was very different."
Marine aviator Scott Cooper had a role in the war's first minutes — the initial airstrikes that attempted to end the war before it began, by killing Saddam Hussein at his Dora Farms residence. Those strikes failed, but U.S. troops took Baghdad within a month, and Cooper thought the war was over.
Iraq vets reflect on a war Americans have largely put behind them
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Iraq
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 5
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Our wartime experience is something that we carry with us, and will always carry with us," she says. "But for many vets they've spent more time out of the military than in it, in adulthood, building another life. I think that's just a natural cycle that probably happens to all wartime veterans."
Jaslow says she's looking forward, not back, and she's optimistic about what veterans of the Iraq War will do as they start to become leaders here at home — bearing the lessons of a war they fought faithfully, but mostly now agree was not worth fighting."...
..."Our wartime experience is something that we carry with us, and will always carry with us," she says. "But for many vets they've spent more time out of the military than in it, in adulthood, building another life. I think that's just a natural cycle that probably happens to all wartime veterans."
Jaslow says she's looking forward, not back, and she's optimistic about what veterans of the Iraq War will do as they start to become leaders here at home — bearing the lessons of a war they fought faithfully, but mostly now agree was not worth fighting."...
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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Excellent post. Thank You for sharing this shipmate. I was active duty Navy when the Iraq war started.
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