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Veterans in Philadelphia Mark 10th Anniversary of Fall of Baghdad

By Justin Udo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

And now, local war veterans have mixed feelings on what this day means to them.

Some of the vets we talked with at the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center, on North 4th Street in Old City, say it makes them feel good when they think about the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in the central Baghdad square.

"I mean, I'm glad of course that we won," said one man tentatively.

But others question why troops were sent to Iraq in the first place.

"There are sons and daughters who were taken from America to fight -- for what?" asked Alan Hodges, a Vietnam veteran, wondering if the war met its goals.  "If it ain't for liberty and it ain't for freedom, what is it for?"

He and many other vets we talked to say when they think about this day, they end up with more questions than they do answers.

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