lennart
28-08-03, 17:11
U.S. soldiers wed Iraqi women against orders
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the few months since the fall of Baghdad, two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi women courted, fell in love and decided to marry.
They won each others' hearts and minds, but battled against disapproving senior American officers and fears of retribution by militant Iraqis.
When they finally held their double wedding ceremony Aug. 17, the nuptials took on the secrecy and synchronization of a commando operation.
The two brides -- one in a print dress, the other in slacks -- and a few family members came to a city street corner. From there, an Iraqi intermediary led them to the route of their fiancés' foot patrol.
The grooms marched up in their uniforms, wearing bulletproof vests and with M-16 rifles in hand. Finally, a nervous Iraqi judge arrived to conduct the ceremony.
The men and women first met after the Iraqi women, both English-speaking doctors, took jobs with the Americans.
A few weeks before the ceremony, the soldiers, National Guard troops from the Florida Panhandle, converted to Islam in an Iraqi court.
It took less than a half-hour to hear the judge's recitations of the vows. The two couples exchanged rings, signed the paperwork and were married.
The marriages-on-patrolwere necessary because the soldiers' superior officers were trying to blockthe weddings. "We are accomplishing a mission on the street and protecting our forces. We cannot develop relationships with the locals unless they are mission-related," said Capt. Jack McClellan, a spokesman for the Florida Army National Guard.
"If it's true love, in a few months, when we mobilize, they can pursue it," McClellan said. "They are not allowed to see them."
Yet Sgt. Sean Blackwell, 27, and Cpl. Brett Dagen, 37, were determined. "I've done two years overseas on active duty and I never thought this would happen," Blackwell said at the wedding ceremony. "I love her."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecbrides28082803aug28,0,6015623.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the few months since the fall of Baghdad, two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi women courted, fell in love and decided to marry.
They won each others' hearts and minds, but battled against disapproving senior American officers and fears of retribution by militant Iraqis.
When they finally held their double wedding ceremony Aug. 17, the nuptials took on the secrecy and synchronization of a commando operation.
The two brides -- one in a print dress, the other in slacks -- and a few family members came to a city street corner. From there, an Iraqi intermediary led them to the route of their fiancés' foot patrol.
The grooms marched up in their uniforms, wearing bulletproof vests and with M-16 rifles in hand. Finally, a nervous Iraqi judge arrived to conduct the ceremony.
The men and women first met after the Iraqi women, both English-speaking doctors, took jobs with the Americans.
A few weeks before the ceremony, the soldiers, National Guard troops from the Florida Panhandle, converted to Islam in an Iraqi court.
It took less than a half-hour to hear the judge's recitations of the vows. The two couples exchanged rings, signed the paperwork and were married.
The marriages-on-patrolwere necessary because the soldiers' superior officers were trying to blockthe weddings. "We are accomplishing a mission on the street and protecting our forces. We cannot develop relationships with the locals unless they are mission-related," said Capt. Jack McClellan, a spokesman for the Florida Army National Guard.
"If it's true love, in a few months, when we mobilize, they can pursue it," McClellan said. "They are not allowed to see them."
Yet Sgt. Sean Blackwell, 27, and Cpl. Brett Dagen, 37, were determined. "I've done two years overseas on active duty and I never thought this would happen," Blackwell said at the wedding ceremony. "I love her."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecbrides28082803aug28,0,6015623.story?coll=orl-home-headlines