Philadelphia-area vets reflect after Iraq combat operations end

Philadelphia-area vets reflect after Iraq combat operations end

From Jan Ransom, "The Philadelphia Daily News:":http://www.philly.com A day after President Obama spoke from the Oval Office to "announce the end of combat operations":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/obama-to-honor-troops-as-iraq-combat-mission-ends.php in the seven-year war in Iraq, Levy - a four-year Army veteran - was among a group of local Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who visited the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday to reflect on their experiences, discuss Obama's "decision to pull out combat troops":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/mr-president-dont-turn-the-iraq-page-before-reading-it.php and learn about benefits provided to veterans. "I think it [Obama's decision] was one of the best ideas anyone has [had]," said Levy, 26. "To tell the truth, we really don't need to be there anymore." Levy returned home to Levittown from Iraq in April 2009 and yesterday he did something he hadn't done since he was 10 - go to the zoo with his mother, Lynn. The VA Medical Center in University City sponsored the Welcome Home event at the Philadelphia Zoo. Twenty-one-year veteran Larry Norman served in the 56th Brigade with the Army National Guard and has been on medical leave since September 2009. Norman had surgery on his wrists and knees after he was injured. "It's an up-and-down situation," said Norman, of Wallington, N.J. "They [Iraqis] don't want us there. How can you change somebody that doesn't want to change?" When a member of his unit got hit, Norman wondered if he would make it back alive. "I still have flashbacks," he said. "I want to leave Iraq in Iraq." "**Continue to the full article at The Philadelphia Daily News.**":http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20100902_Philadelphia-area_veterans_reflect_after_combat_operations_end.html