Powerful video shows the special friendship between a US soldier and an Iraqi child

Orvelin Valle
Mar 31, 2018 2:41 AM PDT
1 minute read
Combat Stories photo

SUMMARY

In 2005, Army Spc. Justin Cliburn befriended two local boys while deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma National Guard that he will never forget. “Once I met these children it made every day something to look forward to,” said Cliburn in t…

In 2005, Army Spc. Justin Cliburn befriended two local boys while deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma National Guard that he will never forget.


"Once I met these children it made every day something to look forward to," said Cliburn in the StoryCorps video below. "We would play rock, paper, scissors, we would kick around a soccer ball. We were about as close as people that don't speak the same language can be. I had never been really good with children and this was the first time I felt I loved someone who wasn't my family member."

Things changed when the nature of war took its course. This touching video shows how friendships form in the unlikeliest places and the lasting impressions they leave:

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