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CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (November 24, 2008) -
Servicemembers at Camp Buehring, Kuwait,celebrated the grand
reopening of a new state-of-the-art United Services Organizations
facility.
The ceremony began with the entrance ofthe official party,
posting of the colors and playing of both the Kuwaiti and U.S.
national anthems. The invocation was given by Air Force Maj. Stuart
A. King, post chaplain.
Sarah McConnell, USO director, Camp Buehring, welcomed guests
and presented tokens of appreciation to those who helped make the
new USO possible.
Remarks were given by Kevin Meade, vice president of operations,
Southwest Asia, and Lt. Col. Edward Amato, commander, Base Support
Battalion-North. The guest speaker was Maj. Gen. Charles Anderson,
deputy general, U.S. Army Central.
"Today we will cut the ribbon and open the doors to one of the
largest centers in the USO inventory, and definitely the largest
USO in Southwest Asia," said Meade.
The USO is a private non-profit organization that supports U.S.
servicemembers around the world. For more than 60 years the USO has
supported troops by providing morale, welfare, and recreation
services to servicemembers.
The USO at Camp Buehring first opened in July 2006.
"We are so proud of what the USO has accomplished here, said
Amato. "Our goal is to try to bring a state-ofthe-art, brighter,
warmer, homier type of environment for our troops to come to
because this center is a home to approximately 144,000 troops per
year," said Meade.
Camp Buehring serves as a training and staging camp for troops
moving north into Iraq or Afghanistan.The staff at the USO does
their part to give the troops the comforts of home while they are
in Kuwait.
The ribbon cutting was completed by the official party and
closing remarks were given by McConnell.
All attendees were invited to tour the new facility that
includes a bistro, gaming center, internet café, a music room,
three big screen televisions, a sound-proof movie theater and two
United Through Reading rooms where servicemembers can record
themselves reading a story to their children to send home.
"No matter who you are, you are going to stop sometime in your
lifetime and ask yourself what was my investment in others," said
Anderson. "The people in the USO don't have that problem. They are
always there investing in others."
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