Rudy Lirato (right), a U.S. contractor and translator currently working for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division's Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Maj. Steve Espinoza, brigade civil affairs officer for 1st BCT and a native of Chimayo, N.M., stand in front of a legal building after attending a reconstruction meeting with local Iraqi government leaders north of Baghdad on July 20. Lirato, a former Iraqi citizen who is soon to be a U.S. citizen, has served with coalition forces for three years and said he has lived the dream of democracy for nearly 30 years in North America and hopes to help Iraqis realize their own dreams of freedom. Lirato and his family currently reside in Phoenix.