UPDATE:
While I am sure some contrarians will be able to find some obscure (or “opposition”) sources that claim otherwise, judging from last night’s and this morning’s media coverage, last night’s “A Nation’s Gratitude” Dinner has been well received by the press — and by Americans. Here is a sampling.
For Iraq Vets, A Thanksgiving Dinner
Obama Salutes Iraq War Vets At White House Dinner
Behind The Scenes At The White House’s ‘A Nation’s Gratitude’ Dinner
Troops With Ties To Region Dine At The White House
Gold Star Wife Gets Seat Next To First Lady
First Iraq Casualty Among Veterans Honored At White House Dinner
‘Nation’s Gratitude’ Dinner Guests
Theme For Troops At Iraq War Dinner: ‘Humbled’
In the Army Times “WHAT’S FOR DINNER?”:
The menu for Wednesday’s White House included:
• Salad of heirloom tomatoes with baby mozzarella cheese with basil and balsamic vinaigrette.
• Dry aged ribeye steak with béarnaise sauce and yukon gold potato croquettes.
• Chocolate crème brulee with brownie.
And:
President Barack Obama and the first lady hosted the formal dinner of gratitude Wednesday night for those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn and their family members. In a room typically reserved for heads of states, veterans and their families were invited to commemorate the end of the war.
“These rooms have hosted presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens,” Obama said. “But in the history of this house, there has never been a night quite like this.”
UPDATE:
For last minute preparations for the 200-person White House dinner (including 78 service members who have served in Iraq), some details on seating arrangements (“The first lady will sit next to Kim Felts, a Gold Star wife from Fayetteville, N.C., whose husband was killed in 2006 when an explosive detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad”) and the full list of Iraq War veterans invited, please click here.
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Tonight’s very special state dinner at the White House has been in preparation for only a few weeks but it has already drawn a lot of attention, support, praise and — regrettably — some criticism.
The dinner, approprately called “A Nation’s Gratitude,” is designed to be “an expression of the nation’s gratitude for the achievements and enormous sacrifices of the brave Americans who served in the Iraq War and of the families who supported them” and is believed to be ”the first such event of its kind at the White House to mark the end of a major war” — “an unprecedented event by the White House, normally reserved for foreign dignitaries.”
While initially 64 of our combat veterans were invited, the list has now grown to 78 servicemembers carefully selected “so all states and territories, all ranks, all services, all backgrounds [were represented] – the point of it was that in the East Room that night, that room would look like the America that served on the battlefield in Iraq.”
Yahoo News, in an AP article by Nancy Benac, provides additional details about those invited:
Some are in their 20s; some in their 50s. One served just months in Iraq; one was deployed six times. Some left the military with life-altering wounds; most still serve. A widow will represent the loved ones of the nearly 4,500 Americans who died.
[::]
Among those invited to Wednesday’s dinner was retired Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, the first American to be injured in Iraq. Alva, 41, had a leg amputated after stepping on a land mine just hours after the war began. Alva said the dinner was a fitting way for the administration to recognize those who served in Iraq at a time when tens of thousands still are serving in Afghanistan.
McClatchydc.com tells us about another attendee. She is Nytayia Jamison, a 24-year-old African-American Marine who served in Iraq from March 1, 2008, at Al Asad Air Base, 100 miles west of Baghdad.
Jamison feels honored to be chosen to attend the formal gala, and it has special meaning to her as an African-American. “I get to meet the first black president on the last day of Black History Month,” Jamison told McClatchy.
And, according to McClatchy:
“Most people in the African-American community look up to President Obama because of what he’s accomplished,” Jamison said.
“To be able to sit with him and actually break bread with him is something I’ll be proud of the rest of my life.”
It certainly promises to be a night at the White House that these deserving Iraq War veterans will not soon forget.
Our salute and thanks to them
White House State Dining Room: Official White House Photo
