Bush to Laud Troops That Stormed Baghdad [View All]

[newyawker99]

President Bush is saluting troops that stormed Baghdad and ousted Saddam Hussein's regime, a day after he visited an Army hospital to pin the Purple Heart on soldiers wounded in the war on terrorism.

The president was to fly on Friday to Fort Stewart, Ga., home of the 3rd Infantry Division, which has suffered more casualties than any other American military division in Iraq.

"The president will personally express his gratitude to the troops of the 3rd Infantry for the sacrifices that they have made in defending freedom in Afghanistan and, more recently, Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday. "The 3rd Infantry led the coalition offenses to liberate the people of Iraq, and they helped to begin the work of rebuilding Iraq."

The president will present the division, which sent 16,500 troops to the Persian Gulf, with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award given a military unit for exceptional valor, an administration official said. More than 40 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry and affiliated units at Fort Stewart have died in the war.

Shrub in GA today