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Linking with the past

Mar- 6-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Kimberly Johnson, USA Today

MOSUL, Iraq -– Jeff Bouldin’s career took a step forward this week, at the knee of a bug-eyed winged mythical beast.

As the sandy-haired Army lieutenant stood at the base of the ancient statue that once guarded an entrance of the palace belonging to Assyrian king Assur Nassirpal II, his wide smile gave away just how pleased he was to be there. He knew he would be stepping away a captain.

Bouldin, along with now Staff Sgt. Stephen Marshall, were able to take a brief break from their patrols to receive their promotions at the site of the ancient city of Nimrud on the bank of the Tigris River. The ceremony honoring the two from Charlie Troop was brief and devoid of showy ceremony. Minutes after receiving their new rank insignia, their platoon scattered into the twists and turns of the picked-over walled compound, digital cameras clicking away. Iraqi police guarding the site watched down in silence from their posts atop towering perimeter walls. Strykers waited down the hill at the ready. They were out of sight beyond the barbed wire fence surrounding the sprawling maze of crumbling mud brick. [...]


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