KRG Interior Ministry unveils statue of fallen American soldier

Erbil, Kurdistan – Iraq (KRG.org) The Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government has honoured a fallen American soldier at the opening of a police college in Erbil.

At a ceremony led by Mr Karim Sinjari, the Minister of State for the Interior, a statue of First Lieutenant Ashley Henderson of the 385th MP Battalion, Fort Stewart , Georgia , was unveiled last week. Lieutenant Henderson’s father Mr Mark Henderson attended the ceremony, alongside US Major General Jerry Cannon, Commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT), Brigadier General James Boozer, Assistant Division Commander for the Multinational Division-North, Colonel Margaret Burcham, Commander for the Gulf Region Division-North of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Several senior officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and federal Iraqi government also attended the ceremony.

Lieutenant Henderson had worked on behalf of the Coalition Forces with the Interior Ministry in Erbil and been a strong advocate of the building of a new police academy, providing space for administration, accommodation and training of cadets, with the financial assistance of the US government.

Lieutenant Henderson was killed in Mosul, outside the Kurdistan Region, in 2006, but her work helped set the project in motion and it became a joint effort by the US government and the KRG.

Minister Sinjari said, “First Lieutenant Ashley Henderson was a woman of courage and determination. We are honoured to have worked with her. Her family and colleagues should be proud of what she did for her country and for the people of Iraq in the liberation of our country. Her statue will act not only as a remembrance of her but will also inspire our police cadets to live up to her standards of commitment and professionalism.”

The new academy will have accommodation and facilities for up to 650 people. At the ceremony, police cadets marched carrying the Iraqi and Kurdistan flags and demonstrated some of their martial arts skills. Major General Connor and Minister Sinjari, as well as other dignitaries, spoke of the hard work that had gone into the project and that it symbolised the cooperation and friendship between Kurds and Americans.