Posted on 10/05/2008 10:42:33 AM PDT by Matt_Rel
Poland ended its military presence in Iraq Saturday with a ceremony for its approximately 900 troops at Camp Echo, Qadasiyah Province.
The Polish army commanded Multi-National Division - Center South, which operated throughout Qadasiyah Province.
Polish forces completed 10 rotations in Iraq, which ended October 1, and commanded 10 national contingents, including Armenia, Latvia, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To the memory and honor of the Polish soldiers
who fought, worked and lost their lives in Iraq, 2003-2008
It was in the first days of the operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003. Despite numerous attempts of the British forces to take a startegic port of Um Qasr, it was still in the hands of Saddam's Republican Guard. The decision of the Allied could then be only one:
Time for special forces - time for GROM (Thunder)!
[click the picture above to see a real video of GROM's naval assault on UmQasr port]
After defeating Saddam's army, Iraq was devided into three stabilization zones: American , British and Polish, where multinational forces were also deployed under the Polish command.
From the very beginning Polish soldiers took part in combat operations against organized terrorist groups that frightened the local people.
[click the picture above to see a presentation about Polish soldiers in Iraq]
Soon the Polish in uniforms became the real nightmare for terrorists ...
....and the real hope for tormented civilians.
After tens of years of Saddam's bloody regime, medical units of the Polish Army organized health care and built hospitals and rehabilitation centers, including first ever built for the children suffering from the cerebral palsy, the children who officially never existed in Saddam's Iraq.
MISSION: COMPLETED
...TIME TO RETURN HOME!
"We will return to Iraq as tourists", said the commander of the Polish Military Mission in Iraq.
Iraqi children bid farewell to Poles with hugs and flowers
Well done, White Eagles!
Well done!
Poland is proud of you and salutes you.
Unfortunately, freedom is not free...
Twenty two White Eagles, the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces
lost their lives under the Iraqi sky
col. Hieronim KUPCZYK 12th Armored Brigade, age 44, † 2003-11-06
cpr. Gerard WASIELEWSKI 12th Armored Brigade, age 20, † 2003-12-22
N.C.O. Marek KRAJEWSKI Army Lublin Staff contact officer, age 34, † 2004-05-08
cpt. Slawomir STROZAK 18th Airborne Assault Batallion, age 34, † 2004-05-08
cpr. Andrzej ZIELKE 16th Zhulavian Maintenance Batallion, Elblag ,age 26, † 2004-06-08
platoon leader Tomasz KRYGIEL 12th Armored Brigade,
† 2004-06-08
cpr. Marcin RUTKOWSKI 1th Mazurian Artillery Brigade, age 24, † 2004-07-29
cpr.Grzegorz RUSINEK 18th Airborne Assault Batallion, age 21, † 2004-08-19
cpr. Sylwester KUTRZYK 18th Airborne Assault Batallion, age 24, † 2004-08-19
cpr. Krystian ANDRZEJCZAK 16th Zhulavian Maintenance Batallion, Elblag, age 23, † 2004-08-21
lt.Piotr MAZUREK
15th Mazurian&n Batalion, age 25, † 2004-09-12
lt. Daniel ROZYNSKI 16th Airborne Division ,age 24, † 2004-09-12
cpr. Grzegorz NOSEK 16th Airborne Division ,age 28, † 2004-09-12
NCO Paweł JELONEK 25th Airborne Cavalry Brigade ,age 30, † 2004-12-15
NCO Karol SZLAZAK 25thi Airborne Cavalry Brigade, age 28, † 2004-12-15
mjr. Jacek KOSTECKI 2nd Peace Mission Hospital, Wrocław, age 34, † 2004-12-15
cpr.Roman GORALCZYK 25th Airborne Cavalry Brigade, age 25, † 2005-02-25
sgt. Tomasz MURKOWSKI 13th Anti-aircraft Regiment, Elblag, age 30, † 2006-11-11
cpr. Piotr NITA 25th Airborne Cavalry Brigade, age 23, † 2007-02-07
cpr. Tomasz JURA 25th Airborne Cavalry Brigade, age 25, † 2007-04-20
mjr Jaroslaw POSADZY 25th Airborne Cavalry Brigade, age 39, † 2007-07-17
sgt. Andrzej FILIPEK 3rd Mechanized Brigade, age 31, † 2007-11-02
REST IN PEACE
WE SALUTE YOU
Ping.
God save Poland. Now they must face the Russians once again.
Heartfelt thanks to our Polish allies, and Godspeed.
ditto
Thank you this amazing tribute to Poland.
God Save Poland, indeed.
I’m a bit misty eyed.
Well done, White Eagles!
Well done!
Thank you, Poland!!
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God bless Poland and the Polish military. Mission well done. Thank you.
Many heartfelt thanks to Poland and the bravery of her sons and daughters.
Very nice presentation...
God Bless Poland and thank you!
Well done....well done.
Thank you Poland....May God bless you, keep you safe and keep you strong.....
May God bless Poland and keep her free!
Thank you Poland!!
God bless them all, and may those who died rest in His peace.
BTTT
Something about those Poles, I love them.
Thank you Poland.
Thanks for posting this, and thank you Poland.
Bog, Honor, Ojczyzna. Well done, good and faithful allies.
God bless Poland I love you, Poland..
“For Your Freedom and Ours” Bump. Dziekujemy Polska!
If Poland falls, it will be because her EU partners to the West sell her out. May it be missile defense, the threats with Russia/Belarus, energy dependence........... Poland is one of the few sane European states, but it’s those you don’t see as an enemy that will do the real damage long term, not the Russians who the Poles know very well not to trust. -IMHO
Thank you Poland, thank you for your brave Sons. May God Bless you all.
Thank you Poland!
Does it mean that the war is over?
Really touching pictorial essay.
We should never let the Poles down.
lost their lives under the Iraqi sky.
Same sky as is over Poland! Najkrótszą drogą!
Now they have reported for further duties with Polish Parachute Brigade founder and commander General Stan Sosabowski and other paras and soldier-sons of Poland who have gone before them. God knows, General Stan would have been so proud of all of them.
He DOES look like Gene Hackman, doesn’t he?
Say, did you hear the one about the Polish cavalry?
Yes. Choice of Hackman for role of Sosabowski in 1977 film A Bridge Too Far was generally thought to be a good one, and Hackman didn't mangle Polish accent too badly.
Say, did you hear the one about the Polish cavalry?
Oh yes. It's related *here*.
Then when you see their flag pass by, salute it their way
The salute is only used while wearing a hat with the emblem of the Polish eagle, such as military hat, rogatywka. The salute is performed with the middle and index fingers extended and touching each other, while the ring and little fingers are bent and touched by the thumb. The tips of the middle and index fingers touch the peak of the cap, two fingers meaning honour and fatherland (Honor i Ojczyzna)
It is not clear when the two-fingers salute appeared in Polish military forces. Some see its origin in Tadeusz Kościuszko's 1794 oath. Others state that it came from the Russian army around 1815. At that time, apparently the Tsar's Viceroy in Poland Grand Duke Constantine said that Poles salute him with two fingers, while using the other two to hold a stone to throw at him. Another legend attributes the salute to the remembrance of Battle of Olszynka Grochowska in 1831, when a soldier who lost two fingers in the battle saluted his superior with a wounded hand.
Does it mean that the war is over?
War on terror, just like struggle against evil is as old as hills and will be fought till the end of the world.
What does “completed” mean? it means the completion of the things that were planned in the beginning. These are: stabilization, rebuilding free Iraqi administration, support for system of education and health care, securing the region and training Iraqi military and police forces so that they may take over control, etc.
Polish soldiers completed all of these things, to this or that extent, but finally they did. And that’s the most important.
Thank You
My wife’s family is Polish descent. Will be sending this thread to them.
Re: The Polish salute
As far as I know, the Poles salute to a state headgear only, the cap (helmet, etc) with the White Eagle on it, which is the symbol of the Polish State since 966 (nine sixty-six!)
Why two fingers? The two fingers are usually raised high or held toward the flag during official oaths, usually when swearing lifetime fidelity to Homeland, the ultimate devotion to the nation (to the last drop of blood), etc.
Those who have made such oaths, like e.g. soldiers, wear caps with the symbol of the State they’re in the service of - the White Eagle.
Therefore, saluting is a kind of pointing with those two fingers at the White Eagle, just as if you are saying:” I greet you (honor you, respect you) in the name of a nation I have sworn my life faithfulness, the nation that the White Eagle, I’m pointing at, is the symbol of.”
So, saluting to a naked head is absolutely pointless in the Polish tradition. In case of the lack of the cap with the Emblem, soldiers salute by quick bowing their heads in the upright position.
Thank you, Poland.
Interesting about the salute, thanks.
I’m confused. Since when or when do they fly a flay with the falcon on it? I though it was just the horizontal white over red stripe?
With the falcon is cooler. Just confused.
In Poland every child is taught that a two-finger salute comes from the battle of Olszynka Grochowska.
It’s White Eagle, legends sais that when Mieszko I, first ruler of Poland baptised Poland in Gniezno (or Legnica) in 966 A.D. lots of White Eagles surrounded him. After Mieszko sweared the oath, he noticed all of the white eagles and claimed that this bird will forever be the sign of Poland.
Other legend sais: “The White Eagle emblem originated when Poland’s legendary founder Lech saw a white eagle’s nest. When he looked at the bird, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on its wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the eagle was pure white. He was delighted and decided to settle there and placed the eagle on his emblem. He also named the place Gniezdno (currently Gniezno) from the Polish word gniazdo (nest).
This tale could be considered as an allusion to the legend of the city of Rome which was founded by Romulus and Remus. Auspicium is the ancient rite of observing birds of prey flights in order to get support of gods for future arranged actions. A less romantic version assumes that Poland adopted the emblem from the Roman Empire (like many other European countries).” <— wikipedia
Anyway... It’s over one thousand years since we’ve started to use our Eagle as the coat of arms
Eagle. Right. Was thinking of that Polish Falcon thang and didn’t look
I cannot speak for every child in Poland, but I can say that also I was taught that by the Drill Sergeant who formally introduced me to military life in the Summer of 1966. A few months later, when I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, the first salute I received was from Sergeant Stanisław Kryla, given with two fingers, though he happened to be in U.S. military uniform at the time.
To this day, I consider it one of the greatest honors I've been paid.
Good tradition for Poland, a bit pretentious for some other less well-estasblished nations.
But may Poland's Eagle fly free for another thousand years!
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