Health & Fitness
Story of My Flag and Citation
Iraqi exploits of Eureka High School graduate and veteran, Dan Mater (class of 1972).
To celebrate his "victory" over Iran, Saddam decided to build a Triumphal Arch. The concept of a triumphal arch is a European import, without precedent in the Middle East since Roman times.
The colossal Hands of Victory monument has dominated Baghdad's skyline since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Built in duplicate, it marks the entrances to a large new parade ground in central Baghdad, towering 140 feet above the highway. The triumphal arch is shaped as two pairs of crossed swords, made from the guns of dead Iraq soldiers that were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. And surrounding the base of the arms are another 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battlefield. The fists that hold the swords aloft are replicas of Saddam Husseins own hands. The German company that built the monument, H+H Metalform, stated it was given a photograph of Suddam's own forearms to use as a model.
When Saddam inaugurated these triumphal arches, he rode under them on a white horse — an illusion to the steed of Hussein, the Shi'ite Muslim hero martyred at nearby Kerbala.
The day before the first bombing run on Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi TV showed a mass of Iraqi soldiers marching beneath the huge crossed swords of the Victory arch, to the theme music from "Star Wars". In April 1998 Iraqi's "volunteer army" paraded for six hours in Baghdad "Grand Festivities Square," the large outdoor arena marked by the two sets of enormous crossed swords.
Credit for this information and picture goes to a relative, as he honored me for my interest in his effort during his work in Kuwait and Iraq as Chief of Staff of IMEF "Engineer Group" United States Marine Corps when he presented me the flag that flew over his headquarters in Kuwait and then into battle in Baghdad with the
citation:
THIS FLAG WAS FLOWN OVER KUWAIT AND IRAQ IN HONOR OF GEORGE 'BOOTS' WEBER 14 AND 17 JUNE 2003 IN SUPPORT OF "OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM" Col. Dan Mater, USMC
Note: Col. Dan Mater, a proud alum of , class of 1972, just 20 years after my graduation, is a son of my cousin, Vera Mater of Fenton. He is now retired and lives in Houston, TX. His son, Captain Dan Mater, a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, is now serving in a joint Force in Afghanistan and says he will have some interesting stories and pictures to share.