An army captain in Iraq describes President Bush's surprise Thanksgiving Day visit to Baghdad.
The National Review has posted items confirming and explaining the origins of the letter quoted above: the captain's sister explained that it was a private message sent to his mother and his wife, the captain himself wrote in to verify it, and the captain's mother let readers know that her son and his wife are spending their first Christmas apart this year while he's stationed in Iraq, but they may be together again soon. His account of events related to President Bush's secretly-planned Thanksgiving Day trip to Baghdad and his description of the President's introduction to surprised American troops by U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer III (the top American civilian official in Iraq) and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (the U.S. military commander in Iraq) matches accounts given by the press reporters present:Finally, a visibly nervous U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer III strode to the podium with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. military commander in Iraq. The two dispensed a few quick words. Bremer then turned to Sanchez and said he had a Thanksgiving message from President Bush. Bremer said the most 'senior' U.S. official among them should be the one to read it. Turning toward the stage backdrop, Bremer asked: 'Is there anyone back there who's more senior than us?' Bremer's hands, cradling the president's speech, quavered. At that moment, Bush strode forth from the wings in an Army track suit emblazoned with a 1st Armored Division patch. The bored crowd shot immediately from their seats and whooped. As he surveyed the crowd, a tear dripped down the president's cheek.Also, some servicemen were both wary and curious about being tapped by their superiors to attend a 'Thanksgiving dinner with some VIPs' and suspected something big was up when they spotted Secret Service agents milling about:Army Spec. 4 Don L. McCastle of Baker, Louisiana, got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach last week when his sergeant told him to report on the double to the sergeant major's office. Enlisted personnel at the grade of E-4 usually don't get called to an E-9's office for social visits. McCastle told his grandfather that he immediately thought, 'Oh no, what have I done now?' The mystery heightened when the sergeant major told McCastle to take a seat on the sofa and relax, then explained that McCastle was to go back to his Baghdad barracks, put on his best set of fatigues and await a ride to the Baghdad airport for Thanksgiving dinner with some VIPs. As related by his grandfather, Admon McCastle of Baker, the 24-year-old Army medic felt a heightened sense of security when he arrived at a large building and noticed lots of civilian security agents milling around. They appeared to be Secret Service agents, he thought to himself. McCastle told his grandfather he started putting two and two together when L. Paul Bremer, the top American civilian official in Iraq, told the gathering of 600 soldiers that he had Thanksgiving greetings from the president but needed someone senior to him to deliver them. Admon McCastle said his grandson told him, 'About that time, President Bush walked out, and the place broke into a roar.'The President also visited with the troops, made small talk with them, and posed for pictures:After speaking to the troops and serving dinner to them, Bush came by McCastle's table and made small talk while posing for a picture with the 1997 Baker High School graduate. Learning McCastle was from Louisiana, the president commented, 'How about those Tigers?' He also observed that the Thanksgiving dinner probably didn't measure up to south Louisiana cooking. McCastle told his grandfather he then asked the president how he knew about Louisiana cooking. 'He said the president just put his arm on his shoulder and winked,' Admon McCastle said.That President Bush might have greeted an Army captain and told him, 'I'm proud of what you do, captain' is perfectly in line with the President's conduct during previous meetings with U.S. servicemen and the nature and purpose of his visit to Iraq.We haven't forgotten you either, captain, and you have our thanks, too. We hope you're able to spend next Thanksgiving back home with your family in the U.S.A.
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