7TH ENGR BDE COMMANDER REPT VOL 18A

File: 970815_sep96_decls58_0036.txt
Page: 0036
Total Pages: 49
Subject = 7TH ENGR BDE COMMANDER REPT VOL 18A                             

Parent Organization = ARCENT      

Unit = VII CORPS   

Folder Title = 7TH ENGR BDE-COMMANDER REPT-VOL 18A -FORWARD AND COMMANDERS PERSPECTIVE                         

Document Number =          1

Box ID = BX000313







               Maneuver forces consolidate during the hours of darkness.
          At every level there is considerable effort to ensure we do not
          engage friendly forces. Unfortunately in the chaos and fog of
          war, U.S. soldiers will fall victim to their own fire. It    is
          inevitable.

               Dawn arrives on one of the worse days in the operation.
          Rain and sand are blown with savage force. Visibility is
          extremely limited. Navigation must be done with electronic grid
          positioning devices.

               In'my role as Corps Engineer I carefully examine enemy
          bunkers-afid trenches. My Xo and driver and our backup team are
          heavily armed. The enemy is still hiding in many places. There
          are mines, booby traps and considerable unexploded ordnance. I
          need to study first hand his defensive system, the type of mines
          and obstacles. This knowledge will aid in our future operations.
          Death and destruction is everywhere. In spite of the terrible
          weather the smalls and sights of death are present.

               Cautiously we pick our way through the mud, tangled wire and
          slippery craters. Weapons are ready. It is cold but we are
          sweating. Enemy bodies and pieces of bodies lie where they have
          fallen, twisted grotesquely, some still smoking. There are brief
          thoughts wondering how these men came to be here? Are they
          married? Do they have families? There is no time for pity.
          They are the enemy. We did not ask for this war. we are
          prepared to kill without hesitation.

               I have other lightning fast thoughts - flashbacks to
          Vietnam, and intense combat. I am so very thankful that I am not
          having to survey dead Americans. I look briefly at my young
          lieutenant wrapped in his own thoughts as he alertly moves around
          the carnage. Mentally I thank God that so far he has not had to
          see his friends suffer or die. lie has not had to place one of
          his own soldiers in a body bag. I pray that he and all my team
          will be spared that agony. We mount up and move out. The
          weather is unbelievably bad.

                 Back at the breach site there is an almost unbelievable
          drama unfolding. Construction engineers have multiple wide
          roadways cut through the Iraqi, obstacle system. Military police
          are controlling traffic. An entire division has now passed and
          is moving forward with speed. The following division, British
          Arnored is now moving up.





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