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The core theme is the common fighting man or woman, said Douglas Wilson, Pentagon public affairs chief.
The intent is for those invited — with guests, numbering more than 200 — to represent the 1.5 million who fought in a nine-year-war that left nearly 4,500 dead and 32,000 wounded, he said.
"The dining room that night will look like the America that served in Iraq," Wilson said.
"State dinners honor heads of state and I think the feeling was that this type of dinner is an appropriate way to honor men and women who … merit the same degree of respect as a head of state," he said.
The black-tie White House event to be called "A Nation's Gratitude" may be unprecedented, Wilson said.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley agreed "it's an interesting White House first."
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