On February 29, in the East Room of the White House, 64 former service members who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn will sit down to dinner with the President of the United States.
The 64 men and women were not randomly invited, but specifically hand-picked by the Pentagon, to represent the more than 1.5 million soldiers (all inclusive of the branches) who served in Iraq.
The White House had criteria: Every state and territory had to be represented. Ethnic diversity was imperative and all branches of the military and every service rank had to be included.
The dinner was to be a melting pot of diversity and culture as well as an accurate representation of those who served in Iraq.
A Pentagon representative specifically stated that troops from Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and North Dakota were the hardest to come by. (North Dakota?) Reportedly, the Air Guard and Army National Guard saved the day with service members from those specific areas.
Not every soldier who was contacted jumped at the chance to eat dinner in the White House; there were many who respectfully declined the invitation.
The politically correct guest list includes 29 Soldiers, 17 Marines, eight Airmen, eight Sailors and two Coast Guardsmen. There will be 21 officers and 43 enlisted members. The mix is 50 men and 14 women. There will be service members from all 50 states and three territories with one local service member who will represent the District of Columbia. Spouses and significant others were also invited.
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