US president Obama honors soldiers killed in Afghanistan
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Friday, October 30, 2009
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US president Barack Obama visited the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Thursday, 161 km (100 mi) away from White House, to honor 18 soldiers who died in Afghanistan due to varying reasons. The bodies of the dead were brought by C-17 air craft.
Obama left the White House around 00:19 local time (-7 UTC) by helicopter and reached the base where the C-17 air plane brought the bodies of the dead. Obama stood silent and motionless near the air plane while the bodies were brought down and were wrapped with the American flag.
Ten of those soldiers, including three drug enforcement agents, died when their plane crashed in Western Afghanistan, and four others when their plane crashed in Southern Afghanistan. The other eight soldiers were killed in roadside bomb attacks in the Kandahar province.
Obama himself met their families and then returned back to White House at around 04:45. The whole ceremony was unannounced and unexpected.
Sources
- "Obama honours Afghanistan killed". BBC News, October 29, 2009
- Nico Hines "Obama breaks from Bush by saluting coffins of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan". Times Online, October 29, 2009
- "Obama takes midnight flight to view the fallen from Afghanistan". USA Today, October 29, 2009
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