GLEN ELLYN, ILL. (AP) -- Former Army specialist Steve Baskis says he thinks President Barack Obama declaring the end of combat operations in Iraq would mean a lot to the soldiers who died in the conflict.
Obama on Tuesday formally ended the U.S. combat role in Iraq after seven years.
The 24-year-old Baskis listened in his Glen Ellyn living room to Obama's speech.
Baskis lost his sight when an explosive hit his armored vehicle in Baghdad in May 2008.
Baskis says he's glad the U.S. isn't in Iraq to fight anymore.
He added Obama was right to say all Americans should stand by the troops.
Baskis also says if he could see and fighting was going on, he would "go back and fight with my buddies again."
Baskis says he hopes the U.S. continues to help Iraq now that combat troops have been withdrawn.
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