Platoon sergeant Sutherland, a native of Oakley California, commanded
one of the tanks that entered Paradise Square in Iraq on April 9 2003.
Their mission was to liberate journalists held captive by Iraqi
officials, but finding that the hostages had been freed already,
Sutherland and his men instead attached a chain around the neck of a
statue of Saddam Hussein and used a tank to pull it to the ground. The
images of the destroyed statue and jubilant Iraqi civilians were
broadcast the world over, and Sutherland found himself suddenly famous.
He appeared on Good Morning America and was interviewed by Time
Magazine, and will have a speaking role as (appropriately enough) a
tank commander in the feature film "The Hulk", due out in summer 2003.
