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An Auburn-Iraq intersection

Dec- 7-2004 » Filed Under: TF Olympia

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by Jamie Swift, Journal Reporter

AUBURN -- Laura Philpot, the city's traffic engineer, knows plenty about street signs. But she never dreamed there would be a street named after her in Iraq.

``I was shocked,'' Philpot said Monday night after learning that one of the newest streets in Mosul, Iraq, is called Philpot Avenue.

She was given the honor by Master Sgt. Ed Johnson, an Auburn resident who is a member of the Army National Guard and the acting deputy mayor of Mosul Airfield.

Johnson, who was in charge of installing street signs and naming the streets on the Mosul airfield base, e-mailed five cities several months ago seeking specifications for street signs.

Only one person replied with the street sign standards: Laura Philpot.

``I was kind of excited to help him because I obviously support the troops,'' Philpot said.

Johnson's gesture of thanks was to name a street after Philpot, who at Monday night's City Council meeting received a replica of the sign that hangs in Mosul.

``That's pretty neat,'' she said.

Johnson's wife, Jeanne Dinehart, and mother, Joyce Pearson, were on hand at City Hall to thank Philpot as she received her replica of the green street sign that reads: ``Philpot Ave. LSA Diamondback/Mosul Airfield.''


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