Rumsfeld holds town hall meeting with troops in Iraq

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BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld visited with troops here and at Logistics Support Area Anaconda July 27, addressing Airmen and Soldiers in a town hall forum.

He began with a thank you to the Airmen and Soldiers present. The air base and LSA Anaconda share the same installation

“I’m profoundly grateful for your service and sacrifice, and to your families and loved ones who sacrifice as well,” he said.

“We call on you to do things we’ve never asked of you before,” Secretary Rumsfeld said. “We ask you to simultaneously be a warrior, a humanitarian and a diplomat -- sometimes outside your career field and sometimes even outside your service. And you serve with professionalism, dedication and humor, which continue to be the hallmark of American fighting men and women.”

Secretary Rumsfeld praised the work being done each day by Airmen working alongside Soldiers to up-armor vehicles for convoys outside the installation, and by medics at the Air Force Theater Hospital here where they treat American, coalition and Iraqi patients daily.

“The 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group provides care comparable to the finest facility in the United States, and you’re doing it right here in the middle of Iraq,” he said.

The secretary specifically addressed the care they provide to Iraqi military and civilians, some from right outside the gates of the base.

“You have touched the lives of thousands,” he said. “These relationships are important -- nowhere more important than right here.”

Secretary Rumsfeld then visited the Air Force Theater Hospital. There he met with Air Force and Army doctors, nurses and medical technicians, and stepped into several wards to speak with American, coalition and Iraqi military patients.

In one ward, he spoke with Soldiers who had just been medically evacuated to the hospital and presented four Purple Hearts.

“Our mission here is to help create an environment where a democratically elected Iraqi government can contain and eventually defeat insurgents,” Secretary Rumsfeld said. “It will not be easy. You all are part of a mission which has liberated 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping to build a better future. Your work is important work, and it is noble work. It will benefit future generations, and it will not be forgotten.”