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CAMP WILLIAMS -- In a symbolic ceremony Saturday, the Utah National Guard gave a golden eagle its freedom in honor of Utah soldiers who died in the Middle East.
Hundreds of tearful people attended the ceremony.
Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, removed the bird's hood and set it free in front of a crowd at Camp Williams Veteran Memorial Park.
The eagle was found injured in a pasture last summer and rehabilitated by the nonprofit group Great Basin Wildlife.
The Guard helped release the bird back into the wild as a way to help the community remember the 39 soldiers from the state killed while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
