Governor Nixon is traveling through the war-torn Middle East, where he says he’s visiting National Guard units from Poplar Bluff and Joplin.
Nixon flies from Baghdad to Balad aboard a Blackhawk helicopter. (Photo courtesy Governor's Office.)
Three soldiers from Missouri have been killed in Afghanistan in the past month, and Nixon tells reporters he visited with guardsmen there who have served with those we have lost.
Nixon is there on a Department of Defense trip with four other governors: Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.
Nixon says it was a privelege to meet with General Patraeus, who he calls “a proven leader, a proven hero for our country.”
The governors arrived in Baghdad Tuesday. They’ve been in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nixon says the governors have had lunch with troops at Camp Victory, meetings military officials, visits to hospitals and saw a hands-on demonstration of a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehical.
Department of Defense security measures prevent Nixon from talking about where they’ll be going or what they’ll be doing after today.
