Nine years ago this week, Columbia became the first shuttle lost on landing. Above, the front page of The News-Herald from Feb. 2, 2003.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Do you remember what happened on Dec. 13, 2003?

If not, this front page from two days later should jog your memory:

Nearly nine months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces near Tikrit, Iraq.

Do you remember where you were when either of those events happened?

A freshman at Ohio University, I watched footage of the invasion with my dorm neighbors, one of whom was dating someone in the armed forces. On Dec. 14, at home for winter break, I woke to a phone call from my then-boyfriend (who was on his way out of the Army): "Merry Christmas: They got Saddam!"

Did you think then that the U.S. would still be in Iraq eight years later?

On Oct. 21, President Barack Obama announced all U.S. troops would be leaving Iraq by the end of the year, declaring an end to the Iraq war, according to The Associated Press. Watch his announcement below:


On Monday, Obama heralded the end of the Iraq war, according to The AP. Follow along with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with The AP.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl