7TH ENGR BDE COMMANDER REPT VOL 18A

File: 970815_sep96_decls58_0044.txt
Page: 0044
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







                I hate hospitals and I hate seeing soldiers in hospitals. I
          am touched at their strength and courage and very thankful for
          the care given them by a very professional medical staff.
          Doctors and nurses are quick to tell me about my soldiers, their
          wounds, conditions, prognosis, and when they will be evacuated
          out of country. It is a good feeling.

                As I leave, a dustoff helicopter is coming in. The medical
          orderlies and doctors rush to the aircraft. A stretcher is
          gently lifted out and a flurry of activity begins as the
          stretcher is wheeled toward the TRIAGE. The sights, sounds, and
          smells -_trigger a thought of long ago when I arrived in the same
                 '-'-'t"an EVAC Hospital in the jungles on the other side of
          manner a
          the world. It never gets any easier. There is no morphine now
          to dull the ache in my heart for my wounded soldiers.

                We await the formal cease fire. The days began to drag.
          Engineers are always busy - maintaining roads and destroying
          enemy equipment. Living conditions are not so good. Days turn
          into weeks. It becomes drudgery. Leaders at every level work
          hard to keep morale up.

                There is more rain and the desert again turns to mud. It is
          amazing how a little water turns the dry dusty landscape into
          mud. Soldiers struggle as everything takes on a foul, mildewed
          damp smell. there is no way to stay clean and we all anxiously
          await the cease fire and some word that we will move south - to a
          safer environment.

                Days are spent driving long hours across the desert visiting
          engineers at bivouac sites, on construction projects, and the
          dangerous business of destroying Iraqi equipment. God did not
          intend for my body to ride in a liummv! The vehicle is wonderful
          for off road operations - strong, tough, reliable, and will go
          anywhere. But, the comfort factor is awful. The vehicle not
          only cause fatigue after bouncing around the rough terrain but
          often leaves one wondering if the feeling will ever return to
          "cheeks."

                Everyday we remains in Iraq I feel tense for my soldiers.
          There remain minefields and a multitude of other types of
          unexploded munitions. The blowing sand covers all traces of
          these deadly devices. wheeled vehicles and soldiers occasionally
          find them, often with deadly results. One can not relax for a
          second. Our demolition mission is also high risk. Guess it is
          normal for commanders to worry about their troops. Safety is
          paramount in everything we do.



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