We've compiled a slide show of photos from Gov. Chris Gregoire's visit to Iraq. Click here to check it out.

Military veterans are very proud, and very particular, about their service medals. We get that.

So we took it seriously when the News Tribune reader representative took a Monday morning call from a reader who wanted to report an error in our obituary story headlined "WWII officer led prisoner rescue."

The Associated Press story reported the death of Robert Prince, a U.S. Army officer who led the Jan. 31, 1945, assault on a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines, which led to the rescue of 571 prisoners of war. Prince died on New Year's Day in Port Townsend. He was 89.

The part that caught our reader's eye said that Prince was awarded "the U.S. Army's highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross." The reader, a veteran himself, said the highest honor is actually the Medal of Honor.

Turns out we're both right. And you can't say that very often.

The Medal of Honor, the highest military award issued by the United States, can be awarded to any member of the armed forces. The Distinguished Service Cross, on the other hand, is the highest award given solely to members of the U.S. Army.

We're running a clarification in Tuesday's paper -- not a correction, because the story was not wrong.

Gov. Chris Gregoire had one last message before the phone interview ended: She’s clearly a fan of Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador to Baghdad.

She met with him during her trip to Iraq last week.

“He’s amazing,” she said. “Crocker is a walking encyclopedia. He’s Spokane, and he’s coming home. He’s retiring in a month, and he and his wife are building a new home in the Spokane Valley.

“Having our meeting with him and meeting with him was like being in an advanced college course. He’s just a wealth of knowledge and understanding, and he’ll be a huge asset back home.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire had voiced concerns during the 81st Brigade's first Iraq deployment in 2004-05 that it didn't receive the proper equipment and was leaving behind vehicles and gear in Iraq.

The troops seem well-equipped, she said, but she was concerned that some of the soldiers were still wearing older flack vets that wearers slip over the heads. The newer version is affixed over the chest with two large strips of Velcro, making it easier to remove when treating a torso wound.

Gregoire also wanted to see more Mine Resistant Ambushed Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, for soldiers on convoy security missions.

And she’s worried the soldiers won’t have the proper equipment on which to train when they return from the deployment, set to end this summer. Last time, the unit left $33 million in vehicles and other in Iraq.

She said the state’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, will discuss her concerns with Pentagon officials.

“To start getting the states back to where they were, it’s going to take a long time,” she said. “We’re not close to where we were before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The governor arrived aboard a V-22 Osprey. She stepped off the helicopter-airplane hybrid wearing a bulletproof flack jacket and a camouflaged helmet.

Clearly, this was no ordinary trip.

“You don’t pass up an opportunity to go to Iraq,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire told The News Tribune on Monday, four days after returning from visiting Washington National Guard soldiers deployed with the 81st Brigade Combat Team.

The trip, the fulfillment of a promise the governor made to the brigade during its pre-mobilization training at the Yakima Training Center in August, remained classified until she arrived in Iraq.

Gregoire traveled Jan. 4 to Washington, D.C., and met with Pentagon officials the next day. She left Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Jan. 5 with Govs. Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Rick Perry of Texas, who also were visiting troops from their states.

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McChord Air Force Base’s 62nd Airlift Wing has passed its nuclear inspection with the highest grade, the base announced Monday.

The wing received a grade of satisfactory, according to a press release. The base’s 4th Airlift Squadron plans and executes all Primary Nuclear Airlift Force missions.

The inspection was primarily conducted by the Air Mobility Command’s Inspector General department. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Air Force Inspection Agency and U.S. Strategic Command also participated.

"These results underscore our commitment to the American people in our ability to conduct our number one no-fail mission," wing commander Col. Jeffrey Stephenson said in a release. "No mission is more important than safeguarding our vital nuclear capabilities and maintaining nuclear deterrence.”

Full press release is below:

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Master Sgt. Cathy Jo Wings is another full-time National Guardsmen used to seeing the governor during state emergencies. And she said it’s important to have the governor close by when flooding or destructive weather, so the timing of the visit impressed the 59-year-old Tacoma resident.

“It was fabulous for her to visit us, especially because she knew Washington was full of water when she was here,” she said. “I’m sure it was stressful on her to be away during that time. The fact she didn’t cancel her trip showed a lot of appreciation for us.”

Other members of headquarters company, serving at Camp Ramadi, seemed pepped up by the visit.

“She was just so friendly as she went around and chatted with all of us,” she said. “It was a morale booster for us.”

Spc. Shane Zoellmer was surprised to hear the governor would be visiting Camp Ramadi, Iraq.

“It was a bit shocking,” the 20-year-old SeaTac resident said. “One day we’re doing our jobs, the next Gov. Gregoire is here. I saw a whole lot of smiles that day.”

She shook his hand and chatted with him for a few seconds, he said. Others practiced their smiles for upcoming snapshots.

Even days later, Zoellmer sounded a bit star-struck.

“It was the first time I ever met the governor,” he said. “It was one of the coolest moments I’ve had. It was really awesome just to have her here, actually coming to where we’re at. That was above and beyond to come visit the troops.”

“She really seemed like she was happy to be here,” he continued. “She was smiling, making jokes, conversing with the troops.”

For Staff Sgt. Derrick Grasty, the timing of governor’s trip to Iraq really resonated.

She arrived just days before the legislature convened and as storms caused flooding around Western Washington.

“With all the stuff going on – the bad weather, roofs collapsing in schools, the flooding – her coming over to visit us was pretty good,” said Gratsy, a 33-year-old Lacey resident. “It’s always good to have someone come over from home and spend time with you.”

He admittedly wasn’t certain what a visit from a politician would feel like, but he said the atmosphere remained comfortable.

“It seemed like it was more than just a political visit,” he said. “She asked us all our first names. She didn’t seem to care about ranks. She was real down-to-earth like that. It was cool to see someone at a higher-up level act on a calm, relaxed level with us.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire greeted Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Sweeney with open arms minutes after she landed at Camp Ramadi, Iraq, last week.

Sweeney, a Graham resident, is the senior enlisted leader for the Washington National Guard and has interacted often with Gregoire. But he believes the two-day trip was a big morale booster for the 2,400 Guardsmen from Washington deployed with the 81st Brigade Combat Team.

“I’ve traveled with her to a lot of events before, but this was special because she honored the commitment she made to all the soldiers back at Yakima in August,” he said. “For the soldiers to see that come true is a big excitement.”

He helped deliver a briefing to Gregoire, who Sweeney said has been a quick study on military matters.

“She’s quite familiar with how we operate,” he said. “Years of getting briefing after briefing on how we do business has made her pretty knowledgeable on what we do. She picks up on that stuff pretty fast.”

In his previous job with the Guard, director of military support to civil authorities, Col. Ronald Kapral worked with the state on preparing and responding to natural disasters. That often meant meeting Gov. Chris Gregoire.

But during the governor’s two-day trip to Iraq to visit with troops from the 81st Brigade Combat Team, Kapral noticed a different demeanor.

“I’ve never seen her happier,” said Kapral, the brigade commander. “It was important that the leader of the Washington National Guard and see what the soldiers from the state experience. It’s one things to send pictures back and talk about your experiences, but to be on the ground, to eat in the mess halls, to see walk the ground the soldiers have to walk every day was probably one of the most rewarding experiences any leader can have.”

The trip, Kapral said, was largely organized by the State Department and was kept classified until the governor arrived in Iraq.

“Very few people knew about the visit early on,” he said.

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