1991 Pacific Stars and Stripes Gulf War section

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1 Pacific Stars and Stripes (ft&) Vol. 46, No. 131 S P E C I A L EDITION

2 Page 2 voi.46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (ff0 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC Inside: DESERT VIGIL: The long wait for war 5,7 Air war: They're bombing Baghdad' 8 Pain, hope and glory 11,12 Making war Nintendo style 15 FREEDOM ROAD: The tanks came rolling in 20,21 Liberating Kuwait 22 Coming home 25,27 The ultimate sacrifice 29 Gulf War Jagodzinski Schad Jagodzinski Coming next week Live drama, real stuff Heston when that living-room genie, at button push, summoned terrifying reality? Laser bombs broke bunkers and dropped a long bridge, girder and span, into the Euphrates River. Waste left by raging explosive made gripping, DRAKE gun-camera footage. A man who had to be told twice, Saddam Hussein ignored another posted notice and a ground war began. What was left of his thread- bare forces was ground to grist in days. When George Bush spread his hands to signal a knockout, that TV Guide was still a month Y ears from now, I'll reflect that one of history's shortest wars didn't last through a single TV guide. I live in a Tokyo apart- ment, and the landlady dangled house TV before away from becoming a back number. Like those never-seen films, this had been much like a mov- ie-script war, full of high drama and brief travail. All we needed now was a happy-ending finish Shrines, museums, a park and large zoo, Ueno offers a cross section of Japanese culture as well as me as a lure JCTV, fed to residents by cable. that fadeout clinch. an oasis within Tokyo. Photo by Mike Van Hoecke. Live or delayed, there was topical stuff like Joan We got it. Rivers and Crossfire, CNN newscasts and a pro- cession of vintage films. Homecoming, those troops swarming home to Sold, I moved in. cheering families those thank-God embraces Staff On the last day of 1990, I found the January- at airports, the touch-and-feel gratitude of young Mike Hagburg Editor through-March JCTV Guide, promising every- wives who wouldn't let go, children who wrig- Sharie D. Derrickson Assistant Editor thing from Nutrition News to Errol Flynn in gled through the embraces with sobs of delight. Scott Schumaker Advertising Manager "The Charge of the Light Brigade." How many movie directors, trying for mo- Andrea L.lto Ass't. Advertising Manager Little of that got seen. ments like this, have stomped on their mega- 229-3141; Commercial (03)3404-9447 A war got in the way. phones in frustration? Live drama. Real stuff. For me, there will always be that moment a Cover:Soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Reg- The desert sands poured past the hourglass returning soldier was blindfolded by his wife, iment plow through the Saudi-Iraqi border. Below: Sail- deadline a man in Washington had given a despot who then placed in his arms the life that had ors aboard the USS Saratoga move equipment across in Baghdad, and I beheld something I never come into his life while he was away. the flight deck at sunrise in the Red Sea. Photos by thought I'd see the direct-by-satellite start of a Wayne J. Begasse and Rob Jagodzinski. Front cover O war, three reporters relating the first assault on h, that tearful look of discovery and won- design by Bill Belford. an enemy capital as bomb thunder shook the derment as the hankerchief was pulled shutters of their hotel room. away, with the musical-score chorale of Pacific Sunday is a weakly supplement to Pacific Stars and Stripes and is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services That antique Flynn flick about the Crimean voices that cared. overseas. Contents of Pacific Sunday are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government. The appearance of advertising in War was blown aside, as were "Captain Blood" It was the perfect ending, all right. this publication does not constitute endorsement by the Department of and "The Sea Hawk." Who cared about cavalry But life is no movie, and hurtful reality fell Defense of products advertised. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to charges and muzzle-loading guns when all the hard the just over a hundred lives lost in a race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, physical handicap, political lethal technology of modern times could be seen brief war. affiliation, or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron. and believed? To think that those lives became back issues Who could forget that dark, remote blur transforming into the drawing-board image of a sooner than that TV guide. Pacific That little magazine is now useless trash, on Tomahawk missile? its way to the incinerator. Stars and Stripes Who needed the fantasy images of Flynn or Those lives were precious and irretrievable.

3 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific Stars and Stripes (ft) vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 3 The 'Scud bureau' From the buildup to the breakthrough A ug. 2, 1990: Iraqi tanks roll into neighbor- ing Kuwait in an act of aggression that stirs the United States to form an unpre- cedented international coalition against Saddam Hussein's war machine. In the following weeks, America and its allies begin deploying hundreds of thousands of troops to the Perisan Gulf to stop any further Iraqi advances south and prepare, if necessary, to Stripes drive Hussein's army from Kuwait. Left to right: Vince Crawley, Ron Jensen, Wayne Begasse, Rob Jagodzinski, Ken Clauson, Dave Schad. Joining the deployment is a team of Stars and apartment in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia located Stripes reporters from the newspaper's Pacific during the first month of the air war. and European editions. about a half-mile from the barracks where 28 Dave Schad arrived in Saudi Arabia early in With stories and photographs, the Stripes U.S. GIs died in a Scud missile attack. the New Year. He reported on the final weeks of team records a running account of the military At the height of the war, however, most pre-war preparations and accompanied an infan- buildup in the Gulf, and of the whirlwind war Stripes' reporters and photographers were well try division into Iraq at the start of the allied launched by coalition forces Jan. 17. north of Dhahran crossing into Iraq with the ground assault north. On the following pages are the accounts of troops. Wayne Begasse, who also entered the Gulf in three Pacific Stars and Stripes journalists who Early in the crisis, the first Pacific Stripes January, photographed the beginning of the covered events in the Mideast. reporter on the scene was Rob Jagodzinski, who ground war and witnessed victory celebrations Their stories are personal recollections and arrived in the Mideast in September. after the liberation of Kuwait City. observations not chronological accounts of Jagodzinski witnessed the buildup of allied When the troops started to leave the Gulf, so the crisis and war. forces in the Arabian Peninsula, and surround- did the Stripes team in time to cover the Stripes' Gulf headquarters was a rambling ing waters, and reported from the Iraqi border victors' homecomings. TURKEY Saudi Arabia Military Bases Ras anura - LEBANON IRAQ Ras al Mishab ammnn KUWAIT Dhahran /JORDAN U.S. equip- jm|n|inti troops CTabuk Hafr al-Baten enter the country Al Waih Jabayl BAHRAIN Yanbu Naval HQ U.S. Central 0 Al Kharj Jiddah Command SAUDI ARABIA Khamis YEMEN NAVY f Mushayt AIR FORCE ) ETHIOPIA U.S. BASE DJIBOUTI f SOMALIA 8Sj-%i8||8|5%8g^^ Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies AP/Cynthia Greer

4 Page 4 vbi. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY - Pacific Stars and Stripes (f May 12, 1991 The University of Maryland salutes all who have served and supported throughout the Gulf Crisis Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes

5 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDA/ Pacific Stars and Stripes (f voi.46, NO. 131 Page 5 Stripes, Jagodzinski An F/A-18 rockets off the waist catapault of the carrier USS Saratoga during a combat air patrol mission above the Red Sea. DESERT VIGIL Troops faced long, hot wait for war By Rob Jagodzinski Stripes Mideast Correspondent D HAHRAN, Saudi Arabia History books as yet unwritten will likely reduce the Gulf crisis and war to a few paragraphs and a handful of catch phrases "Desert Storm," "gas mask," "Scud mis- sile," "smart bomb." But few of those who were on hand in the Mideast to watch the events unfold will forget the details about their months in the Gulf, or the part they played in the war. Such memories will remain with them for life. War or peace, the Mideast is in itself unforgettable to anyone who has traveled through it. More than a few troops who deployed to Saudi Arabia, however, proba- bly wish they'd never set foot in the desert kingdom, with its rigid customs, its severe heat, its wilderness of sand, its dour women wrapped in midnight black. For many, in fact, the hardest part of the ordeal proved not to be surviving a chemical attack or tank battle, but simply weathering a half year spent in the sand, or afloat in the surrounding waters. Despite Big Macs, Cadillacs and air-conditioned malls, Saudi Arabia remains a country rooted in an age centuries past, like a passage torn from the Old Testa- ment or the Koran. In other Mideastern lands, Islam is the religion of choice. But in Saudi Arabia it is the only choice, woven into the fiber of everyday life and thrust on believer and non- believer alike. GIs who spent their time anywhere near a city in Saudi Arabia will remember the haunting call to pray- er, wailing from tinny loudspeakers five times a day. They'll remember the ornate mosques, and they'll re- member images of the faithful kneeling next to BMWs or battered pickups on desert roadsides during sunset devotion. It's hard to forget about the country's strict censor- ship laws, which ban all news stories, magazine arti- cles, music or films contrary to the government or its religion. There are no bars, discos or movie theaters, and although illicit drugs, drink and other vices can be had at a high cost, it seems that anything even remotely fun is forbidden. Most troops in Saudi Arabia, however, spent little time getting to know the local culture. Once herded off camouflage transport planes at Dhahran air base, sol- diers and Marines traveled to nearby ports to offload their tanks, trucks or other vehicles from cargo ships. Then they formed serpentine convoys that snaked north across highways, away from the cities and deep into the desert. Along the way, dust-choked truck stops were the Stripes, Jagodzinski only links many troops ever had with the Saudis. A Marine sets up a HAWK missile system in the Saudi Arabian Desert.

6 P ge 6 Vol. 46, No. 131 FttCIFIC SUNDAY - Pacific Stars and Stripes H-tt*) May 12, 1991 OUR GRATITUDE GOES BEYOND MERE WORDS NAVY eHGhange Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes.

7 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 7 Stripes, Jagodzinski ofripes, JagodzinsKi An Air Force mechanic services a C-5 Galaxy. A USS Midway helicopter squadron crewman scans the North Arabian Sea. inhospitable. A carrier's steel deck radiates the sun's heat T he combination gas station-convenience stores became more rundown with each passing mile north, but troops flocked to them to buy junk food, newspapers and cheap The intense heat was often hardest to bear. During the daytime from late summer until late fall, you couldn't escape the blow torch heat, and only deep in the evenings did the sand begin like an iron frying pan, and the exhaust from fighter jets makes flight deck temperatures even harder to bear. Meanwhile, deep in the guts of any steam- trinkets for souvenirs. to cool. Troops learned to work around the heat driven ship, firemen and boiler technicians While some troops lived in barracks in the by sleeping at midday and working or training at worked round-the-clock in temperatures above rear, the desert was home to many GIs during night. 100 degrees, keeping the furnaces burning and the crisis and war, though at times it proved the steam turbines turning. Water kept you alive out in the sand, but to Engine room hazards could include diesel avoid dehydration you had to learn to fires and severe burns from high-pressure force it down by the quart, since it steam, while flight deck duty posed such dangers usually tasted of chlorine or iodine as engine exhaust burns, loose missiles on deck, and was always hot from the sun. The plane crashes or men blown overboard. water was often so hot you could use Even months before the war, the Persian Gulf it for coffee, although most troops could be a nasty place to work. The waterway just poured Kool-aid into it to make it was often filled with oil slicks (though much easier to drink. smaller than the slicks caused during the war), The desert regions that most troops as well as floating garbage and bloated sheep called home were seldom filled with carcasses that merchant ships threw overboard rolling, cactus-covered dunes as you (sharks loved them). To keep things interesting, might find in the American South- mines occasionally broke free from their moor- west. Much of the northern Saudi de- ings and drifted down from the Gulf's northern sert is as flat and dead as the floor of reaches, so lookouts scanned the waters night an ancient sea, and littered with de- and day. cades of trash left there by bedouin Enforcing the United Nations embargo of Iraq sheepherders. Troops added to the ex- kept allied sailors busy in the Mideastern waters isting garbage with their empty ration before the war. The men often had to board pouches and other mounds of junk ships suspected of carrying forbidden cargo to strewn across each camp which or from Iraq, and sometimes had to divert ves- promptly drew swarms of flies. sels when such cargo was found. Meanwhile, Desert camps were often thick with carrier-based fighter jets flew combat air patrols fine, corpse-gray dust that settled into near the Iraqi and Kuwaiti borders to thwart any the chow, clogged the nose and air raids that Saddam Hussein might launch. ground into rifle actions and other mechanical parts. And wind storms could fill the air with powdered sand that made you cough for hours. Troops found it hard to navigate in the featureless desert, they found it A bove the Arabian Peninsula, U.S. Air Force fighter jets, along with those from other coalition air forces, defended the skies against attack. Day and night, Air Force refueling tankers pumped gas into the jets. And difficult to gauge distances in its ex- AWACS command and control planes directed panses, and tough to locate cover in operations from the sky and readied to take the flat terrain. charge of any air battle, in the event of war. And aside from marathon card Back on the desert floor, the pre-war buzz- games, mail from home or scorpion word was "training." fights, there were few diversions to Infantrymen trained at clearing land mines by the seemingly ceasless desert vigils. crawling on their bellies and probing the ground So boredom added to the other annoy- with sticks. Armored units bolted plows onto ances to make desert life sometimes their tanks and practiced breaching sand berms. seem intolerable. Anti-aircraft gunners fired their 20mm gatling But most GIs got used to their guns at model Iraqi jets. And anti-tank gunners plight and learned to deal with their sighted in their missile systems by shooting at surroundings long before the war be- demolished cars two miles distant. gan. The sunsets and sunrises, after Soldier, sailor, airman or Marine, everyone all, were often spectacular. And the practiced donning gas masks and chemical pro- bright, crisp nights were silent and tective suits. They fired their weapons while star-filled. wearing protective gear and practiced cleansing Like their brothers in the desert, their skin of imaginary chemical agents. sailors in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea The months of training and preparation paid and North Arabian Sea also had to off when the hour of war came to pass on Jan. deal with the Mideastern heat espe- 17. The mother of all desert vigils had ended,'and cially those who worked on aircraft though no one could forsee it, the war would carrier flight decks or among the fur- prove infinitely shorter and much less frus- Stripes, Jagodzinski naces and steam turbines of a ship's trating than the six month crisis that preceded A USS Saratoga sailor walks on warplanes' wings. power plant. it.

8 Page 8 voi.46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (ft**) May 12, 1991 Photos by Rob Jagodzinski AIR WAR As the bombing begins, pulses and rumors quicken Marines fire .50-cal. machine guns in preparation for a ground assault against Iraq. had begun.) After the siren we went off to gather riously silent for days after Desert Storm began.) D HAHRAN, Saudi Arabia The phone jan- gled me awake sometime before 3 a.m. Jan- notes and photos under the pre-dawn starlight. Sometime after midnight, truck horns began to uary 17th, and I muttered and stumbled The opening hours and days of the air cam- blast the signal for a chemical attack. Everyone across the dark room to answer it. paign caused sensory overload. We watched com- donned gas masks and protective suits and filed The message that came over the line swept all bat jets roar north, missiles bristling under their into a sand-bagged bunker. But the shells never the fog from my brain: wings. Bogus reports of chemical attacks, counter came. Allied jets ripped across the sky above, and "They're bombing Baghdad." attacks and the death of Hussein filled the news dull explosions sounded from miles off, some- Suddenly the six-month wait was over and the and fueled even more rumors. where past the border. United States and Iraq were at war. The knowldege that you were close to a war Sunrise found us shuffling into the bunker The caller was Ron Jensen, one of our report- zone was powerful, electric, alarming. again. Another false alarm, and everyone ers who had volunteered to stay overnight at the Later on the first morning of the war, I was emerged covered with sweat and smeared with press center across town to make sure that if war heading north toward the Iraqi border to report chemical-suit charcoal. did break out we wouldn't hear about it hours on preparations for the armored assault to free We blinked at each other, then started to laugh, later. Strangely enough, Ron learned of the at- Kuwait. which seemed the only tension release. tack not from the press center but from a live On the highway, huge convoys of military So this was war. CNN broadcast just like the rest of the world. trucks carried allied tanks, self-propelled howit- Rob Jagodzinski The military made no formal announcement until zers and other armor to northern posi- later that morning. tions. American, British and Arab As I listened to Ron in a kind of dazed disbe- troops shot hard grins at you on pass- lief, he relayed what little information he knew ing them, as if to say, "Can you believe about the opening minutes of the allied air strikes this! We're actually going to war!" on Baghdad. Then, I hung up and started banging Wrecks littered the desert roadside, on every door in our house, waking up the other along with tractor trailers that had bro- four Stripes reporters. ken down and armor that had flipped For those deployed to the Mideast at the time, off the trucks. the war's outbreak shocked the senses like a high- In a few hours we were rolling voltage jolt. At first I felt something close to through evacuated towns near the relief the inevitable hour had come and the Iraqi border, each one silent and life- months of waiting were over. But there was a lot less as a bombed village before an all- of uncertainty as well: Would Iraq fire chemical clear. Only a few dirt-floored truck missiles at Dhahran? Or could Hussein launch a stops stayed open, where t r o o p s counter strike on the air base nearby? flocked for junk food and kerosene for The initial answer seemed to be yes, as air raid their tent stoves. sirens wailed outside our door. The first night at a border base The five of us reporters donned gas masks and camp proved sleepless. We stayed milled nervously around in a hallway until the awake late, huddled around a short- safe siren sounded a few minutes afterward. (We wave, hanging on every word of a BBC later learned that the siren was set off not to warn broadcast. (Radio Baghdad, self-pro- the city of attack, but to alert citizens that the war claimed "voice of freedom" was myste- During chemical warefare training, a Marine hoses off a truck in the desert. A Sea King lands on the destroyer USS Fife.

9 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes vot. 46, NO. 131 Page 9 WE SALUTE YOU From One Service To Another ZUL USO was there with you in WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and we will always be there for you. uso is ALWAYS HOME Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. Technics NAVY Army& Air Force Exchange Service MCX emshange

10 Page 10 voi.46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDA/- Pacific Stars and Stripes May 12, 1991 /JBMW IfflrjKgi'j i (,:>>>'* &?$}% % A-.^ Js^: - X :*'S-v" '"illP"' IS Car Sales Point Army& Air Force Exchange Service M.nn. Crp* Marine C*rr EuliuiB 1450 Exciiuiyc USD ^^ GKchanqe ^^^ &z'.~3'&rt,'F^ Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. You've earned some R&R. Let NewSanno make your homecoming extra special!

11 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (f vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 11 Pain hope and glory DoD photo pool, David Turnley Al Kozakiewicz, left, cries in a med-evac helicopter after learning of the death of a fellow tank crewman; bodybag is far right. geant major, soon after the corps took positions By Dave Schad Stripes Mideast Correspondent 7 never thought it along the Iraqi escape route. Despite their spot in front of most of the division and their mission OUTHERN IRAQ Less than 24 hours of being first to fight the enemy, the cavalrymen S into the ground war, Sgt. 1st Class Russ Fauver eyed the huge map hanging in his armored personnel carrier and considered the reports he'd heard over its radios. would come to this' "Basically, they're in a position where no didn't see much action. One company shot up a pair of Iraqi tanks, and the squadron hauled in its share of prison- ers. But in the end, the burning vehicles, de- "Saddam Hussein is getting his ass kicked, matter which way they go, there will be some- stroyed bunkers, or dead bodies the squadron and he don't even know it," announced Fauver, thing in front of them and somebody waiting to routinely discovered were some other unit's as he rolled along some 60 miles inside of Iraq. tear into their flanks," explained Sgt. Maj. Ber- work. From his perch atop two cases of grenades, nie Cabrera, the 24th Cavalry's operations ser- The much-hyped "Mother of All Battles" the 33-year-old sergeant was in a position to turned out to be, as one sergeant called it, know. "the mother of all blather." As an operations NCO for the 2nd Squad- The cavalrymen, of course, didn't know ron, 4th Cavalry, Fauver and the rest of the that as they went about their last-minute unit were leading the 24th Infantry Divi- chores before the attack into Iraq. The sion (Mech) on its 200-mile push toward nearly 100 men assigned to the squadron Iraq's Euphrates Valley. command post were quiet, and they ex- The division, which is based at Fort changed somber looks with each other. Stewart, Ga., had entered Iraq about 200 "I never thought it would come to this," miles west of Kuwait just after noon, Feb. said one veteran NCO. 24. Intelligence officers believed small Minutes before the section's 11 vehicles pockets of Iraqis would show themselves drove north, Cabrera, one of the squad- that night. ron's few Vietnam veterans, assembled his The real fight, however, would come sev- men. eral days later from the Republican Guard. "War is the most violent thing on earth, Pushed north by other coalition forces, and you are going to see things that you the Guard was expected to break and run can't even begin to imagine, said Cabrera, up southern Iraq's Highway 8. 37, from Oxnard, Calif. "When you see The stuff would hit the fan when they these things, do what you have to do, clean encountered Fauver's squadron, his divi- yourself off and drive on. Don't think sion and the rest of the 18th Airborne you're less of a man if you get sick at the Corps. sight of dead soldiers. We're human, and But it didn't work that way. that's the way God made us." Rather than stand and fight, the few "We're all coming back," Cabrera added. Iraqi conscripts posted along the division's "We will not leave any of our dead or invasion route surrendered, stayed in their wounded out there." foxholes or simply ran away. A few Repub- As the vehicles lined up, Fauver looked lican Guard units put up a scrap, but much DoD pool photo, Joe DeVera into the bottom of his Kevlar helmet and of the fight had left them. The USS Wisconsin fires at Iraqi positions. smiled. "I'm going to be listening to my

12 Page 12 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (f May 12, 1991 Stripes, Ken Clauson An F-15 Eagle takes off from Saudi Arabia for a sortie against Iraqi targets. family," said Fauver, from Hop Bottom, Pa. In- said, 'No, I haven't got a radio side the helmet, the sergeant had taped pictures or anything. I don't know who of his wife and three kids. Next to the photos you are, but whoever you are, I was a tiny tape recorder he'd cut from the "talk- hope you win.'" ing"' Christmas card they'd sent him. When he Before leaving, Gharbally poked the right spot on the cardboard, he could gave the family several Army hear his family say things like, "I love you," and field rations and bottles of wa- "Merry Christmas, honey." ter. Looking content and ready for anything, "For the kids," he ex- Fauver put the helmet on. "I listen to them all plained, not wanting to appear the time, and I expect to be hearing from them soft-hearted. more than ever during the next few days," he Gharbally wasn't as kindly to added, turning his attention to the war. the next batch of Iraqis he en- countered. The four soldiers D uring a short stop several hours inside of Iraq, Sgt. Joel Anderson lay behind his M- 16 rifle a few hundred yards from the command post's vehicles. While he pulled security, Anderson scanned had been captured a day earlier and were being held for inter- rogation. Barely able to contain his contempt for the soldiers, Gharbally listened as one ser- the Iraqi desert and observed that it didn't look geant told their story. Stripes, Dave Schad much different than the one in Saudi where he'd Part of a small desert out- Marine light-armoured vehicle crewmen fight a chess war. lived for the last six months. post, the four soldiers and He said it was hard to believe he was actually about 10 others had been given rifles, machine come to power." at war. "But I guess that will change as soon as guns and rocket-propelled grenades and told That night, Gharbally and the rest of the we actually see something," said Anderson, 26, simply to kill Americans. squadron's CP settled in less than 100 yards from from Atlanta, Ga. "Still, I'm glad it's finally Highway 8 Iraq's main supply and escape T started so we can get it over with and go home." he unshaven, scroungy-looking prisoners route. The modern, six-lane highway with road Not far away, Waleed Al-Gharbally leaned told of low morale, lean rations and flat- across the hood of a vehicle and fiddled with a signs in English and Arabic was littered with out panic in their ranks when they first burning vehicles and a few dead Iraqis. shortwave radio. A Kuwaiti volunteer attached spotted the Americans. as the cav's interpreter, Gharbally was anxious "We were nothing compared to the forces we A for any news about the liberation of his country. were facing," the sergeant said. bout a mile away, Apache attack helicop- Away on business when the Iraqis invaded on An American intelligence officer asked Ghar- ters pounded a large supply depot. Light Aug. 2, Ghabally's wife and three kids were still bally to find out if the sergeant thought other from the fires painted the night sky, and in Kuwait City. He'd heard from them once since Iraqi troops felt the same way. the sound of explosions from the depot and the occupation. Looking to do his part, he volun- "The general public didn't want to invade nearby artillery attacks lasted into the night. teered as an interpreter and asked to be assigned Kuwait it was the Republican Party people Staff Sgt. Mike Orr, an infantryman assigned to a frontline unit that was sure to see combat. who wanted it and who benefitted from it," he to a cavalry slot, sat on top of his Bradley, "A man without a country is nothing," said told Gharbally. "This war is not our war. We spooned down an MRE and watched the fire- Gharbally, 40. "For seven months, I had no don't want to fight Americans. The Republican works. hope. Now, I have hope." Guard might fight. They are Saddam's dogs, and Orr, who'd had to fight the Army's bureaucra- The next day's news from the British Broad- they will bark only as long as he is alive." casting Corporation turned his hope to reality. cy for his spot in a Bradley commander's seat, After the interrogation, the four Iraqis were sensed that the war was nearly over. He knew Hearing that U.S. Marines were nearing Kuwait driven into the desert and released. A U.S. ser- City, Gharbally broke into tears and hugged ev- geant loaded the four down with rations, water that his chances of mixing it up with the enemy ery dusty GI within reach. and an extra sleeping bag. Then, the NCO cut the were dwindling. On Wednesday, Gharbally started earning his small compass away from his watch and gave it "I didn't come here to be a hero and win a keep when the cav began running into bedouins to the Iraqi sergeant. bunch of medals," said Orr, 30, from Colville, and scarfing up prisoners. The Iraqis, happy to be heading home, walked Wash. "I wanted to do my job to the best of my In the middle of a driving sand storm, Ghar- around shaking hands with the Americans. One ability and get my guys out alive." bally, and two Bradley Fighting Vehicles were dirty private had tears in his eyes, and he hugged He said he was glad his crew was alive, but a dispatched to inspect a tent and a herd of sheep and kissed each of his captors. part of him wondered what he'd missed. not far from where the squadron had stopped. "You always wonder if you're prepared for Gharbally approached the sandal-clad bedou- in, who seemed distracted by the pair of 25mm chain guns trained on him. Behind him, his family huddled under the tent's shelter. After exchanging cigarettes and Arab small G harbally stood to the side and watched the exchange silently. Before leaving, the Iraqi sergeant approached him and ex- tended his hand. Gharbally refused, and the two Arabs entered into a short, quiet debate. In the something like this," Orr said. "You want to think that you are, but you don't know until you've been tested. That's what I wanted to find out." talk, Gharbally shook his head and looked exas- end, Gharbally extended his hand, then stood At five the next morning, the temporary perated. watching as the Iraqis walked north toward cease-fire went into effect. "He's harmless and ignorant like most bedou- home. When Gharbally heard the news, he glanced at ins," Gharbally said. "I asked him how many "He wanted to apologize," Gharbally ex- the remains of Iraq's army scattered along High- sheep he had, and he could tell me without plained. "I told him it was too late for that. He way 8. Then he stood staring out across the hesitating. wanted us to keep on going and kill Saddam terrain. "I asked how many children he had, and he Hussein. Can you believe that? I told him to "Look at the birds and this beautiful, fertile had to think hard before remembering he had 11. return home and help other Iraqis do the job desert," he said, half to himself. "It makes me I asked if he knew what was going on, and he themselves. They're the ones who allowed him to wonder why man must fight."

13 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (U&) vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 13 Army &Air Force Exchange Service MCX eiienange NAVY Minn. Cnp EMfaup UJO Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department ol Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. \OKOTA NCO Q WELCOMES BACK THE DESERT STORM "SUPER TROOPS" * YOUR FAMILY MISSED YOU YOUR FRIENDS MISSED YOU YOUR CLUB MISSED YOU THANK YOU AND WELCOME HOME YOKOTA-S NCO CLUB

14 Page 14 VOL 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific Stars and Stripes May 12, 1991 Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes.

15 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUN DAY Pacific Stars and Stripes voi.46, NO. 131 Page 15 B efore I left Saudi Arabia, I read that Amer- Making war ica hadn't settled on a name for its latest war. The Persian Gulf War, The War in the Gulf and The Liberation of Kuwait were a few show- ing early promise. Eventually, time, the media and historians will decide. But, while these things are still being sorted Nintendo style out, I'd like to offer up a candidate of my own: "The Nintendo-A Team War." The name came to me right after the fighting ended. I had watched how TV covered the war. I realized the war the American public was seeing on television didn't match the war I saw in Iraq and Kuwait. I decided the folks at home can't be blamed if TV images of video-game arrows they thought war had been a cross between a video game and the TV series. During the war, I saw dead Iraqis and burning represented death and destruction vehicles strewn along desert highways like road kill. America might have gotten a glimpse of that, but the Pentagon seemed to prefer to keep cameras away from those things. Instead,they showed videos of smart bombs taking out bridges, hangars and buildings with pinpoint accuracy. Naturally, the bombs never missed, and I rarely saw any people in the target areas. Some of TV's high-priced war analysts even used video screens they could draw on to help explain which units were attacking where. John Madden and other sportscasters began using the devices several years ago to diagram football Commentary plays on national television. It was easy to forget that those video-game arrows represented death to thousands of Iraqis, and that U.S. airmen, soldiers, sailors and Ma- rines were out there risking their lives. The broadcast war reminded me of a televi- sion episode of the A-Team series. Built around a cast that included the tough Mr. T, the show would pit its heroes against a new batch of villains each week. At the end of each episode there would be a dramatic shoot-out. Firing from the hip with weapons that never needed reloading, the good guys would fill the screen with lead, shooting the guns out of the bad guys' hands. Nobody ever got shot, and in the end, the hoodlums always gave up or ran away. Nice and clean, just like the war. While updating correspondents on the air war, the military's spokesmen used sterile, unoffen- sive words such as "battle damage assessment," "battlefield preparation," and "collateral dam- age." Those words were a nice way of saying that people were dying. That's part of war, but the military seemed to believe the taxpayers didn't need to be reminded of that. Pictures were out of the question. Stripes, "Jagodzinski USS Midway sailors cart bomb racks across the flight deck. N ot much changed when the ground war started. The military imposed a 48-hour news blackout and, for the most part, its pool system of coverage kept us away from the action. When stories and pictures were filed, this system was painfully .slow about getting them back from the front. With few options left, the media could only grudgingly present the Pentagon's view of the war. We didn't hear much from the dusty, weary troops/who were fighting the battles. Try as I might, I can't really get mad at the military for what many are calling a round-about form of censorship. It had its own agenda, and that was to sell the war and the military to America. They did that all right, but at what cost? I would hate to think that America has gotten the idea that wars now are easy, that our military machine is unbeatable and that technology has advanced so far that only a few bad guys get hurt. Some suggest that Iraq lost 100,000 soldiers in the war. Nobody wants to talk about how many civilians died as a result of "collateral damage." The public needs to be given an idea of the extent of the damage, and they should be shown pictures to back the numbers up. They need to be reminded that wars are still brutal, that peo- ple still bleed and that the dead, even the ene- my's, leave behind spouses, children, parents and friends. Otherwise, it might be too easy to start anoth- Stripes, Begasse er one. A high-tech message for Saddam. Dave Schad

16 Page 16 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes May 12, 1991 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 17 Stripes, Begasse A U.S. helicopter transports Iraqi prisoners of war. Stripes, Jagodzinski Over the Gulf, an F-16 refuels from an Air Force tanker. Path makers A Howitzer crewman cheers after his artillery round finds its Iraqi target. Stripes, Begasse to freedom Scenes and events of war Stripes, Jagodzinski An F/A-18 jets past a catapault officer on the USS Midway. battle group, out of Japan, will join the Mideast task 20th: Interviews with captured allied airmen are Chronology force. November 8th: Bush orders more than 10,000 addition- al troops to the Persian Gulf. 29th: The U . N . Security Council votes the use of broadcast by Iraqi television. 21st: Iraq announces it has placed prisoners of war as sheilds at military targets. 26th: Three Iraqi MiG-23s are shot down by U.S. F-15s August 2nd, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait. The U.N. methods necessary to remove I r a q i troops from Kuwait in the first major dogfight of the war. Security Council demands Iraq withdraw. if they do not withdraw by Jan. 15th. The Pentagon confirms that USS Louisville is the first 3rd: United States commits U.S. Naval forces to the 30th: Iraq shuns the U . N . demands. sub to launch cruise missiles in combat. Persian Gulf. December 6th: Saddam Hussein says he is releasing all 29th: A battalion-size force of United States Marines 6th: The U.N. Security Council imposes a trade em- foreign hostages. engage in the largest ground battle to date in Kuwait. bargo on Iraq. 22nd: USS Dubuque returns to Japan from the Gulf. There are no U.S. casualities. 7th: United States sends combat forces and planes to 23rd: 475th Air Base Wing Security Policemen leave 30th: Iraqi tanks and troops advance into Saudi Ara- Saudi Arabia. Yokota Air Base in Japan for the G ulf. bia. The attacks are countered by U.S. Marines, Saudi 8th: Iraq says it has annexed Kuwait. 26th: Sailors from destroyers USS Fife and Oldendorf, and Qatari troops. Eleven Marines die. 10th: Arab leaders agree on plan to send forces to home-based in Japan, forcefully board and re-route an 31st: Saudi and Qatari troops, with U.S. artillery back- protect Saudi Arabia. Iraqi freighter trying to break the United Nations em- up, retake Khafji, Saudi Arabia. 13th: Amphibious ship USS Dubuque departs Sasebo bargo in the North Arabian Sea. February 4th: Iraqi positions in Kuwait are fired on by Naval Base, Japan for the Gulf. 30th: 374th Tactical Air Wing airmen leave Yokota for the battleship USS Missouri. 14th: USS Blue Ridge, Seventh Fleet flagship, sails the Gulf. 12th: In the largest battlefield action to date, allied Stripes, Schad from Japan to serve as command ship for Navy in Gulf. January 3rd, 1991: USS Beaufort departs Sasebo, forces open a combined land-sea-air barrage against A 101st Airborne Division soldier naps at an air base in northern Saudi Arabia. 16th: Iraq orders 2,500 Americans and 4,000 British to Japan for the Gulf. Iraqis in Kuwait. report to Iraqi authorites. 15th: The United Nations deadline passes. the nation that 'The liberation of Kuwait has entered Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. 13th: Iraqi officials claim at least 500 civilian dead the final phase. The President authorizes General Nor- 26th: Iraqi forces are in 'full retreat' according to 21st 24th: Marines from the 4th Regimental Head- 16th: Multinational forces begin attack in Iraq and after U.S. Stealth fighers drop two bombs on a fortified man Schwarzkopf to 'use all forces available, includ- Brig. Gen. Richard Neal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Allied quarters: 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment: and Kuwait. underground facility in Baghdad. Iraq describes the ing ground forces, to expel the Iraqi army from Ku- Combat Service Support Detachment 31, leave Okinawa 17th: Scud missiles are fired at and strike Israel and a facility as a public bomb shelter. wait.' forces are pursuing and Iraqi POWs number 30,000- for the Persian Gulf aboard amphibious ships USS 15th: Saddam Hussein announces that Iraq is prepared plus. That number will climb to 63,000. Scud fired at Saudi Arabia is shot down by an American 24th: At the end of the first day of the ground Dubuque, San Bernardino and Schenectady. Patriot missile the first anti-missile missile fired in to withdraw its forces from Kuwait but only under In an announcement, Saddam Hussein says Iraqi occu- Okinawa-deployed Seabees also depart for the Mideast. offensive, General Schwarz kopf declares the action a pation forces will completely withdraw from Kuwait. the war. conditions that include an Israeli pullout from occupied 'dramatic success' for allied forces. Allied casualities 28th: Iraq declares Kuwait its 19th province. Western Troops from the Marine Barracks in the Philippines Arab territories, forgiveness of Iraqi debts and allied are very light and more than 5,500 Iraqis are captured. 27th: The emirate's flag is raised by Kuwaiti troops in women and children hostages are set free. begin deploying to the G u l f . payment of costs for rebuilding Iraq. The offer is Kuwait City. President Bush declares suspension of dismissed as a 'cruel hoax' by President Bush. 25th: Saddam Hussein is reported by Baghdad radio, offensive combat and lays out conditions for a perma- September 13th: Iraqi soldiers storm French ambassa- 18th: President Bush announces that Israel has prom- to have ordered troops to withdraw from Kuwait in dor residence in Kuwait. ised not to retaliate against the I r a q i missile attack. 18th: The American warships USS Princeton and USS nent cease-fire. accordance with a Soviet peace plan. 'The war goes October: Air Force Tactical Air Controllers depart South 19th: At least 17 Israelis are injured when at least Tripoli strike floating mines; both are damaged but on' according to White House spokesman Marlin Fitz- April 8th: Cruiser USS Bunker Hill returns to Yokosu- Korea for the Mideast, along with GIs from U.S. Forces three Scud missiles explode in Tel Aviv. Israel vows to still operational. water. ka,Japan. Stripes, Begasse Korea. 15th: USS Midway's air wing returns to Atsugi, Japan. defend itself, but refrains from retaliation as the Unit- 23rd: The allies' ground offensive begins at 8 p.m. Twenty-eight U.S. soldiers are killed and 90 are Soldiers get a ground war briefing. 12th: The Navy announces that the USS Midway ed States rushes Patriots and A r m y crews into Israel. EST. At 10:02 p.m. EST, President Bush announces to wounded when an Iraqi Scud missile hits a barracks in 17th: Midway battle group return to Yokosuka.

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19 Page 20 vol. 45, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUND/V Pacific Stars and Stripes (f May 12, 1991 tripes, Begasse U.S. Marines storm toward Kuwait City under a black, smoke-filled sky. By Wayne J. Begasse FREEDOM ROAD my war efforts." Nearby, several O Stripes Mideast Correspondent N THE IRAQI BORDER Dust flew up from the desert floor, marring a beauitiful When the combat veterans of Vietnam talked to younger soldiers, whom the vet- erans called "war mongers." "I can't believe my ears when I hear them talking like that," said a vet- Saudi sunrise as hundreds of Abrams tanks, Bradleys, and sup- port vehicles from the Army's 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment rolled towards Tap Line Road. When they tanks came eran. "These guys don't know what war is really like." The next morning, Capt. Robert Dobson, the regiment's public af- fairs officer, strode into the tent he reached it they would be farther north than any allied unit in Saudi Arabia. The move was only 70 kilome- ters, according to the map that ^^^ " rolling in ^^ " shared with Nicholson and Spec. Lionel Green, and calmly said, "G- Day's set. We move out on the 21st." No one said a thing for a minute hung in the regiment's command post. But or two, and then the 21-year-old specialist to the soldiers, the move signaled that the spoke. "You mean we're really going to ground war was becoming a reality. war?" It was Feb. 17. The air war was just a The regiment immediateley began prepa- month old, and Iraqi Foreign Minister rations. The next day was another jump Tariq Aziz was in Moscow for talks with this time a shorter 20-kilometer move. It Soviet President Mikhail Gorbechev. He put them within Iraqi artillery range. was quoted as saying it was up to the allies Now, during the cold, clear nights, you to act on the peace proposal that Iraq of- could hear the bombing raids going on fered Feb. 15. That proposal said Iraq was across the border. Some nights you could prepared to pull out of Kuwait under cer- feel the ground shake, but mostly you tain conditions. It fell "well short" of what could hear the destruction being dropped is needed to end the war, said President on the Iraqi army. Bush in an evening press conference. It On the morning of Feb. 20 Day 38 of looked as if the 2nd ACR would be going to the war Dobson informed his men that war soon. G-Day had been put on hold. President Since its arrival from Germany, the regi- Bush, we were told, wanted to wait to see ment had been sitting in the desert for the what would become of a Soviet proposal last 2 Vz months. that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait. Its assignment was to locate the enemy The men focused their attention on the and engage them until one of the heavier radio listening to BBC reports day and armored units could come from the rear night. For a while it looked as if Iraq was and take up the fight. It took a full day to sincere about pulling out. get the regiment, three armored squadrons, On Feb 21, the Soviets announced they one aviation squadron, a support squadron and Iraq had agreed on a plan that could and the command post across Tap Line lead to Iraq's withdraw! from Kuwait. It Road. was also the day the regiment was informed As the soldiers dug in to their new home, that the ground war was on again. The many began listening to their shortwave regiment was to breech the border on Feb. radios the only link they had to the 23 in just two days. The ground war outside world. Radios told the same story would officially start the next morning. they had heard for the last month. The Air The next day the regiment buzzed with Force continued its attack on Iraqi targets. preparations. Tank and Bradley fighting "That's OK," said Staff Sgt. Tom Nichol- vehicle commanders gave their tracks one son, as he clenched his M-16. "It's only a last going over, and squadron commanders matter of days now and then its our turn. received their final brief. And we plan to kick Saddam's butt." One Bradley team was out on the north- Many, including Nicholson, were tired of ern most point. They kept an eye on the the listening to the Air Force get all the credit. border and talked. One 18-year-old soldier They were worried that if the air war couldn't believe it was happening. "I left forced Saddam to throw up the white flag, for basic two weeks before Iraq invaded then sitting in the desert the last few Kuwait," he said. "It was all anyone talked months would be for naught. about in basic. Looking back on it now, I "I'm a soldier, I've trained for this all my wonder how I ever ended up here." career," said Nicholson. "I don't want to Stripes, Begasse He was not alone. Three of the four men miss out now. I want something to show for A U.S. Marine raises a fist in victory. that made up the crew of the Bradley were

20 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDA/ - Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 21 Stripes, Begasse Kuwaiti resistance fighters celebrate the liberation victory. under 21. "Raw recruits," said their Brad- A few miles over the berm, vehicles ley commander, a veteran who saw fighting stopped at the sight of a huge white pyra- in the waning months of Vietnam. "I've mid that marked the Iraqi border. Soldiers told these guys its OK to be afraid, that's brought out their cameras and groups it's a natural reaction. Heck, I'm scared. stood in front of the marker for souvenir Tomorrow we go into Iraq. Some of us may photos. A few gathered up Iraqi sand and never return. But it's our job. I've tried to rocks. train them in the short time we've been Twenty miles into Iraq, the regimental 55 together. Hopefully, it paid off.' command post stopped. It had reached its first-day objective. An hour later, word was passed that the T he morning of Feb. 23 brought last- minute reports that Iraq would imme- diately pull out of Kuwait. They wouldn't be given the chance. At 11 a.m., the BBC carried a report that front-line units were meeting little resis- tance. They were on the move again. The first day took the regiment 45 miles into Iraq. Captured Iraqi prisoners were Bush had given the Iraqis till noon the being shuffled towards the command post following day .to leave Kuwait. from the front two squadrons. They had Two and a half hours later, the green surrendered without a fight. light was on. The regiment began to move. Artillery units unleashed a barrage. It last- ed exactly nine minutes. Next came the punch through the berm. Hundreds of tanks sped across the bor- T he regiment continued the swing to- ward the Euphrates River Valley. The next day there were more prisoners. The war would continue for the regi- ment, but word was already reaching them: der to secure points for the following day's assualt. They met no resistance. That night U.S. Marines and Saudi military forces in the regiment's command post, soldiers were pushing into Kuwait. Iraqis were flee- spent the night sleeping in their vehicles ing north right into the 2nd ACR's path. the tents all stowed for the next day's de- It's here that I left the unit. Through parture. news reports I kept track of its advance. In the early morning darkness, the Staff Sgt. Nicholson, who craved the expe- ground war became a reality. By sunrise rience of war, had finally gotten a taste of Stripes, Begasse the assualt was in full swing. it. A Marine kept his patriotism in his flak-vest pocket Stripes, Begasse An M1A1 tank sports a game label on the barrel of its 120mm gun.

21 Page 22 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUND/V Pacific Stars and Stripes (frt*) May 12, 1991 Photos by Wayne J. Begasse A Saudi bottles water in preparation for war. Kuwait's liberation Thank you very much' A Kuwaiti woman waves the national flag. threw her arms around me and began thanking me. duced his family and we talked. He told me stories K UWAIT CITY I really didn't know what to expect. The sky was black. Bombs had pitted I told her I wasn't a soldier, but a member of the of invasion day, how he and his family holed up in and scarred the highway that led into liberat- press. their small house for seven months. They went ed Kuwait City. What was ahead? More importantly "It doesn't matter, you're American. That is outside only for food and water. would I be able to handle what I found? How would enough. Americans freed our country from the He looked at the horizon, shook his head and said, the Kuwaitis who days earlier had been given arms of that madman." "What a pity. Our lives have been disrupted for the back their country react to the hundreds of us She then introduced me to her family, all nine of last seven months, and although we are happy to reporters and photographers creating a second in- them. The only one missing was her husband. He have come through it, it's sad to see what's become vasion? of our country. It will take years to erase what had joined the Kuwait resistance, and she hasn't Saddam did in those seven months." It didn't take long before my questions were heard from him since. answered. She whispered she didn't want the children to As I and my partner, Ken Clauson of European Stars and Stripes, made our way toward downtown Kuwait City, we came upon our first checkpoint. Armed with weapons that once belonged to Iraqis, hear that she fears he is dead. When I left Kuwait for our return to Saudi Arabia, I stopped to photograph the burning oil fields. A s we said our goodbyes, his 7-year-old daughter reached into the car and brought out a Kuwaiti flag, wrote something on it in Arabic and handed it to me. The father translated the Arabic: Long live freed Kuwait. young Kuwaitis stopped each car. They were look- As I was getting back into the car, another car ing for Iraqis, Iraqi sympathizers and weapons. Thank you. They carefuly checked the papers of everyone in pulled alongside. Inside was a Kuwaiti man with his I still have that flag. It hangs on the wall near my each car; then they searched the trunks. family; his wife, two children and their Filipina desk. It causes me to reflect of my short time in As we approached, I reached for the Kuwaiti maid. They said they were out driving for the first Kuwait. Reflect on the plight of those people, the press credential hanging around my neck. There time since the Iraqi invasion on Aug. 2. ones that showed me a warm side, all the while was no need, however. A young Kuwaiti, no more I gladly obliged his request that I pose with his hurting inside. than 15 and holding an AK-47, stopped our car, family for a picture. After the picture, he intro- Wayne J. Begasse thrust his arm forward wanting to shake hands: "Thank you, thank you very much." We would hear that for the next 36 hours as we traveled around Kuwait City trying to document their liberation. At the next roadblock there seemed to be one every 200 yards we ran into a traffic jam. Figur- ing it must be debris strewn across the road causing the slowdown, we made our way toward the front. People kept shaking our hands, screaming "Thank you, thank you George Bush, thank you everyone." The cause of the traffic jam: another celebration parade., and we were caught smack in the middle. Although liberation was days old, that didn't stop them from continuing the celebration. Cars, trucks, flatbeds and even tanks filed past in front of the U.S. Embassy. Thousands of Ku- waitis lined the street. Victorious Kuwaiti and Saudi soldiers fired their weapons into the sky. I shot several rolls of film in those first few hours: GIs signing autographs for thankful Ku- waitis, young Kuwaiti women yelling "Up with Bush, Down with Saddam," people waving huge Kuwaiti flags. There were two incidents I recall specifically. I was standing there trying to take it all in, when one Kuwaiti mother touched my shoulder and asked if I was an American. When I answered, she Smoke from a burning Kuwaiti oil field floats over an abandoned housing complex.

22 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY - Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 23 ********** ** * * THE MARINE CORPS EXCHANGE MCASIWAKUNI JAPAN OFFERS CONGRATULATIONS AND GRATITUDE FOR THE EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES AND VICTORY BY ALL SERVICEMEMBERS INVOLVED IN OPERATION DESERT STORM WELCOME HOME **************************************** Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. T3GT MELENDtZ SRA COMBS SGI MERR!TT TSGTWIl iAMS SRA DUG HI EN !H(-;i WAKbLY SSGT SMITH A1C FOLEY 'SGT MCNEIL JR 6990TH ESS SSGT HANCOC K GTSCHROEDER SSGT JACKSON SGT HICKS SRA EOX TSGT OSUNA AMN LOWE SSGT TINCHER MR, ! FSTER SGT ROONEY 18TRNS/LGTM MR, KENY SSGT SCOT! SSGT WEBER MR. MADDEN is /'f'"; t'"" ll\'- \"\'[')\/ ft ISli SRA SHEETS A 1C SOY . \ / j JX . V-7J NAVV CFAO I M | i\ m SGT WALKEP 603RD MASG MVEi V\?!li iAMS ;;{ ;v -,/vii ip.ivc; NAVV COMM STATION DEL I

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24 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUND/V- Pacific Stars and Stripes (ft) vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 25 Tm coming home' By Hal Drake Stripes Senior Staff Writer O n Guam, a wife returning from the Persian Gulf was greeted by a stay-at-home hus- band. A Marine came back to Okinawa and declared himself a true expeditionary creature home was where the duty was, overseas or not. In the Philippines, sailor-town Olongapo was rocked to the foundations as 15,000 Marines and sailors arrived at once, washing the bitter taste of near beer from their mouths with strong swallows of San Miguel. In Japan, families waited longer. Yellow rib- bons, wilting in the spring thaw, stayed in place on trees and doorknobs. Then, after six months of crisis and combat, the Midway battle group and the carrier's air wing returned to Japan to families and friends delirious with relief. All over the western Pacific, Americans, fin- ished with a short war, landed back under Ameri- can colors on foreign ground. The faraway victory was taken in stride, but not the homecoming. "You're late," Lt. Lee Huntzinger reproved her husband, Lt. Cmdr. Mark Huntzinger, as he came to Agana Naval Air Station to pick her up. In blaring band music and a flutter of yellow ribbons, he still looked as if he were driving to a train station to collect a commuter spouse. But this was mid-March and Lee had been away Stripes, Jagodzinski since January, sent to the Gulf with Fleet Air Navy Lt. j.g. Mike Miklaski kisses his 5-week-old daughter for the first time. Reconnaissance Squadron 1. Married three years, they marked up their third missed anniversary something both took in career stride. Duty had always deferred a candlelight dinner. "There's always a possibility that either of us could wander off to whatever contingency comes up," shrugged Mark, a Seabee officer who stayed on Guam as Lee went to Saudi 'These guys deserve all the fun they can get/ Marine Capt. Randy Wormeester Arabia. Lee, Navy wife and Navy officer, agreed. She wanted to go. "You don't want war or fighting," she said, "but if you've spent your life training and if war is inevitable, you want to contribute. You want to be there doing your job." Victory had been gained, and the gain was worth the pain. Marine Lance Cpl. Darrell Davis, holding the colors of Headquarters Company, 4th Marine Regiment, was first off a Fat Albert. U.S. Navy photo, Ted Salois He was just ahead of 69 others who filed off Marines and sailors of the amphibious ship USS Okinawa are greeted in Subic Bay. the C-5A at Kadena Air Base, the first group of

25 iV Page 26 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes May 12, 1991 4 Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. Desert Storm Heroes VAQ-136 VFA-195 VA-185 VFA- VAW-1 VA-1

26 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 27 Jubilant members of the Army 24th Mechanized Infantry Division on their way home to Fort Stewart, Ga. Marines to return to Okinawa after almost seven "Every time the news said that a plane went months and tell me what life is like," said Marine months in the Gulf. The trip back had been down, my heart leapt," said Nancy Rocha, whose Capt. Randy Wormeester. "These guys deserve tiring, Davis admitted 16 hours in the air, 16 husband Lt. Jeff Rocha is an F/A-18 pilot with all the fun they can get." hours on Diego Garcia, and now home. the Midway. That's what this was, Davis added. Anywhere One returnee, Petty Officer 1st Class Howard "The kids worried a lot about their father," Smith, debarked to meet wife Maria and 4-year- Sam told him to hang his helmet and be ready to admitted Yukie Williston, while she waited for fight was home. old daughter Yvonne. her husband Chief Petty Officer Wade Williston First handed the "Mother of All Beer on d' at the arrival of destroyer USS Oldendorf. "Our W hat he had in hand was his unit flag, worn and stained with the honest dirt of duty, and Davis held it proudly. His com- mander had given it to him as he left Saudi Arabia. three-year-old kept asking, 'when will daddy come back?' " But that question quickly faded when Kevin Williston spotted his dad at the destroyer's rail, Pier," Smith then got roses from his little girl, along with a carefully rehearsed greeting. "Welcome home, daddy, I love you." To Smith, this moment could only be experi- enced, never described. and a smile lit the boy's face. "He entrusted this to me and told me to bring Not all Midway sailors, however, had such a "You see it a lot on TV, but you don't know it home and put it back in front of the compa- personal welcome. what it's like." ny." "The worst part of coming back is having no At Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, long- The Marines had been out working, and one to greet you," said Seaman Marco Mancilla, hung yellow ribbons had faded, but not the re- looked it sweaty and unshaven, they were still a single sailor who works in the carrier's hangar solve to give those who went away a rousing seized for frantic hugs from loved ones. bay. welcome-home. For Capt. Joe Coco, there was a first meeting A few Marines went to the Mideast from Leslie Stoerck had put husband Kurt's pre- with an unacquainted loved one 2-month-old Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, exchanging sents under the Christmas tree as if his hands Drew, born while his father was away. no shots and seeing little action except for thou- would be there to open them, then shelved the Blue uniforms were seen among the green, sands of Iraqi prisoners in single file, looking gifts that would not be unwrapped until absent and Jean Solie was glad. like a long procession of ragged pilgrims. faces in the 374th Aerial Port Squadron re- Tech. Sgt. Michael Solie of the 376th Strategic turned. She waited. So did Katey, 4 months, Wing had come to Kadena with his family in August, the month a remote war started, and by November he was gone. "It's been four long months," Jean said. "He's unquestionably a hero. He went out and M any more soldiers and Marines, some 15,000, would have landed on the beach- es of Kuwait if the allied ground assault had not broken the spine of Saddam Hussein's forces. Kandyce, 2, Kerry, 6, Karly, 7, Kyle, 9 and Kim- berly, 10. A much-missed daddy had been gone since Nov. 28. Pilots and crewmen of Carrier Air Wing 5, did what America's all about help others to be Instead, stopping off at Subic Bay Naval Sta- deployed on the Midway, would return to Atsugi free." tion, they invaded Olongapo City hit bars, Naval Air Facility to find happy families and the Here, as in America, there were speeches of shops and restaurants with a benevolent barrage work of a grateful Japanese hand waiting for tribute and gratitude. A general thanked his of long green. them. troops for putting a despot in his place. Some 5,000 men in Commander Amphibious "You took a petty tyrant and showed him that this is not the kind of world that will accept his kind," said Maj. Gen. H. C. Stackpole III, com- mander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Group 5, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, were ready for it. At sea for 10 months, they were the first such outfit to be deployed that long since the Indochina War. Y utaka Miura, a Yokohama dental techni- cian and sparetime artist, painted the prow of an F/A-18 Hornet lifting above a leaden blue sea. There is a watchdog destroyer below There was no resistance from barkeeps and and the sky is turning a hostile gray. T he largest group of military people to de- ploy from the Pacific left with the half- dozen ships of the USS Midway battle group on Oct. 2. Some 6,000 sailors in all spent more than six months in the North Arabian Sea hostesses dug in along Magsaysay Avenue, where business had been barren of profit since these troops passed through in January, before they deployed, and spent wildly on a fatalistic With the painting, Miura and businessman Suei Sen Lee sent a tribute. "This picture was drawn for victory in the war for peace and freedom and for safe return of last fling. our naval forces. From the bottom of our heart, and Persian Gulf. The beauty of the Midway's Now they were home or headed home, and we wish you full success in action and pray for return was that the carrier came back with all its had a lot of long days and lonely nights to make your safety. Hold out, U.S. Navy pilots." pilots and aircraft none were killed or shot up for. Miura called his work "Return to Peace," down during the war. "Lock yourself in your hall closet for 10 which said it all for a lot of people.

27 Page 28 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific Stars and Stripes May 12, 1991 -h GOLDEN Pacific Stars and Stripes Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes.

28 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes voi.46, NO. 131 Page 29 The ultimate sacrifice A tragedy claims a Marine and leaves a void in his Stripes, Younghaus family's Kristine Winkley, top center, and her children received caring and support from their neighbors and friends, the Viramontes. Sean's pictures sits on the table in the background. lives By Paul Younghaus returned. She met them in the front yard. a fine layer of white. Kristine said Sean loved Stripes Okinawa Correspondent "They looked at me and said, 'We're sorry.' I Maine and loved snow. broke down, I was hysterical. They had to carry "The snowfall, the 21-gun-salute, and the K ADENA AIR BASE A relationship that began in a bus terminal in Los Angeles in 1982 ended tragically in a dust storm in Saudi Arabia Feb. 7, 1991. A Marine intelligence officer, devoted husband and father of two, had me back into the house." Mary and her husband, Air Force Capt. Chris Viramontes, stayed with Kristine. "It was the longest night of my life. Chris and sound of taps was the hardest part of the day," she said. "The farewell was haunting." The funeral was on Feb. 14, five days before Kristine and Sean were to celebrate their ninth Mary didn't let me out of their sight. We waited wedding anniversary. She said it was hard to his life extinguished as the car he was driving hit until the next morning to tell Seth and Ga- bury him on Valentine's day. a tank broadside during a sand storm. brielle," she said. Kristine ordered a military headstone with the But, to the widow of Marine Chief Warrant Kristine told her children that their father inscription: "He walks with Jesus," on the back. Officer 2 B. Sean Winkley, the tragedy had a was dead. They took it well, she said. They were A week before Easter, Kristine's son Seth silver lining that she could have never dreamed used to their father being gone and didn't really proudly showed her a colored egg with a sticker of. understand at first that he was dead. that said "Daddy." "The Marine Corps has held my hand through "They haven't cried," she said. "But Gabrielle "He was outstanding, the perfect Marine. He all of this and as hard as this has all been, asked if I had a really long ladder to take daddy was human, but he personified the Marine they've moved mountains to take care of me," into heaven." Corps. I never met a person who didn't like him. said Kristine Winkley. He was good-natured and a true professional," Kristine said she was crushed when the news of her husband's death reached her Feb. 8. Sean was the only Marine stationed on Okinawa, as well as the only person from the state of Maine, to die in the Gulf war. D uring the next few days Chris and Mary were at Kristine's side all of the time. They took care of her children. Other neighbors brought her food. On Feb. 11, Kristine went to the United States she said. "He was also a wonderful husband and father. He loved being a father. I wish he was still here to see his children grow up." Kristine vowed that her husband's memory To Kristine, Sean's deployment to the Mideast would not fade. She's putting special items of for Sean's funeral. Capt. Hank Aaron, Sean's Sean's in a foot locker to show his children when was no suprise. She said the two had only been team chief, went with her. He wasn't the casual- together three to four years of their nine-year they get older. ty assistance officer, but Kristine asked that he "Sometimes I ask myself, 'Why me?' This marriage. Sean was in school or deployed the accompany her. rest of the time. Seth, 6, and Gabrielle, 5, were isn't supposed to be happening to me. Every- "He was super, he was my pillar of strength. one's coming home to Okinawa now except my also used to their father's frequent field duty. They didn't just tell me that Sean had died and "It was hard, he was always out in the field. personal Marine. I wish I could be happier for then forget me. I didn't think everyone would them," she said. He missed a lot of time with Seth and Gabrielle, take such a personal interest," she said. and he always felt bad for that. We were always Sean was given a hero's funeral with full She's not bitter. In fact, she said she's been hoping that things would slow down. We always military honors. The state governor, a congress- overwhelmed by all the support she's received. made plans for 'someday,' " she said. woman, family and friends were there. Friends rallied behind her, and acquaintances In all there were 300 people in the Erskine came to her assistance. "The Marine Corps takes care of its own. This A ssigned to the 3rd Surveillance, Recon- naissance and Intelligence Battalion, Winkley was in the Philippines when Iraq invaded Kuwait. He returned to Okinawa for three weeks, then left for the Mideast on Oct. 2. Academy gymnasium, the high school from which Sean graduated. At the ceremony they played a special song for Kristine, "Unchained Melody" by the Righ- teous Brothers. It was a special song for Kristine was the first time for everyone involved. The casualty officer had never done this before, but he made sure everything was taken care of," Kristine said. "This has been really hard, but the "He wanted to go. This was exactly what he'd and Sean. While he was in the Mideast he taped it Marine Corps, my friends and my faith have been trained to do," Kristine said. for Kristine. He filled an entire tape with that carried me through. I can't think of what I could "I knew he wanted to go, but this was differ- one song and told her that every word in the have told anyone to do to make things any bet- ent, I didn't know when he would be back." song said what he felt about her. ter." Then the news of Sean's accident came. The Kristine had another special song played: The 3rd SRI team leader knew Kristine was close to her neighbor, Mary Viramontes. He asked Viramontes to accompany a casualty assistance officer when he broke the news of "Marine's Hymn." It was special because Kris- tine and Sean had been Marines when they met at the Los Angeles bus terminal in 1981. And it was special because of one part of one verse. K ristine said she would be leaving Okinawa sometime this month, and that she wasn't sure yet about her plans. She said she would like to go to college and study to be a Sean's accident and serious injuries. // the Army and the Navy ever look on Heav- paralegal assistant. She was told her husband suffered multiple en's scene, "Now that the dust has settled, I thought that fractures, internal bleeding, trauma and head They will find the streets are guarded by United everyone's lives would have to go on and that I'd wounds and that he was in surgery. It was the States Marines. be on my own," she said. "But all my friends morning of Feb. 8. "I can picture him in heaven with dress blues, have been with me all the way. They've been All day Kristine was tense, worried that the but he's probably wearing cammies. He was great tension relievers they've been my worst would happen. She and Viramontes waited more comfortable in them," she said. strength. In the military you have an extended for any news. At the graveside there a light snow was fall- family. I'll never forget how my family helped About midnight casualty assistance officers ing, dusting the U.S. flag over Sean's coffin with me through this all."

29 Page 30 voi.46,No. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific stars and stripes () May 12, 1991 T0TRE fff ID Jl _^^^^^__ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ uininn WOMEN OF DE ERT TORM. 'S GREAT TO YOIS BACK MOTH IN. WELL DONE! Pac/ffc Stars and Stripes Your Hometown Newspaper Away From Home

30 May 12, 1991 PACIFIC SUNDAY- Pacific Stars and Stripes vol. 46, NO. 131 Page 31 CONGRATULATIONS AND All our heroes front Desert Storm. From Camp Zama MWR P 9e S n0t endorsed b ^ ' V the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes. Representing the >wmi itary Commodore Computer Broyhill Furniture Ind. Creighton Uniform Leading Technologies The Lane Company NAVDUNGAREE Samsonite Luggage Coleman Products Mattel Toy Company Bulova Watch Company Magnavox Norelco Sealy Mattress Company Sanyo Texas In *1* The John K. Kealy Company 8000 Capwell Drive Oakland, California 94621

31 Page 32 vol. 46, NO. 131 PACIFIC SUNDAY Pacific Stars and Stripes (ft**) May 12, 1991 Advertising appearing on this page is not endorsed by the Department of Defense, the military departments or Pacific Stars and Stripes.

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