News Photo Reassures Marine’s Mother

After the war in Iraq began, Patty Tucek was unsure of her only son’s whereabouts. But now she knows -- thanks to a photograph that appeared on front pages across the country Thursday.

The emotional picture that moved on Associated Press wires shows her son, Cpl. Andrew Garza, and other Marines walking with a jubilant Iraqi boy in the Baghdad square where a huge statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled.

Tucek, 41, of Truckee, said she was thrilled to see the photo because she had not talked to her son since Jan. 28 when he left for Kuwait. Her last letter from him arrived a couple of weeks ago.