Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991 TAG: 9102260477
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
The small American flags they waved when they arrived in Saudi Arabia were tucked into the tops of some of the bags that would accompany 28 of them on their final journey home.
In a moment's flash, a single Iraqi Scud missile inflicted more casualties on American soldiers than its million-man army and thousands of tanks have in two days of ground combat.
Only hours before Iraq announced it was withdrawing from Kuwait, it skyrocketed the ballistic weapon into a metal warehouse converted into an American barracks and mess hall.
Baghdad radio hailed the attack against "the coward traitors who mortgage the sacred places of the nation . . . and turn Arab youth into shields of flesh."
The U.S. command said 28 American servicemen were killed and 100 were wounded Monday night in by far the deadliest of nearly 70 Scud attacks. Four Americans were reported killed and 21 wounded in the opening days of the al- lied ground drive into Iraq and Kuwait.
Most of Scuds, including an attack Monday on the island-nation of Bahrain, have been intercepted by U.S.-supplied Patriot defense missiles.
Iraq early today also fired its first Scud at Qatar, an Arab member of the multinational coalition. It crashed in a deserted area and no damage was reported, according to the official Qatari news agency.
George Manes, the Middle East bureau chief for the military newspaper Stars & Stripes, said an air-raid siren gave scant warning of the Scud that hit the barracks. Less than a minute after the sirens sounded, the missile broke apart in a shower of firey orange streaks, he reported.
The Scud broke up in flight and what appeared to be its warhead plunged into the building, which is 3 miles from a major U.S. air base, while many of the soldiers were eating and relaxing.
A singed sign at the entrance marked it as the home of the 475th Quartermaster Group, a reserve unit from Farrell, Pa., north of Pittsburgh. But U.S. officials refused to say what unit was inside because relatives of victims had not been notified. Later, an Army official said victims were from more than one unit.
The explosion crumpled the building's girders. No Patriot missile was fired to intercept the Scud, said sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A convoy of ambulances and medical evacuation helicopters carried away the wounded amid sirens that wailed non-stop through the night. A chaplain moved among the dead to pray for them and among the living to console them. Soldiers cried and embraced each other in anguish.
An Army soldier sat weeping near the skeleton of a building that a short time ago had been her home.
Nearby, a military policeman whispered something into the ear of a female colleague as she strapped her M-16 over her shoulder. She took a deep breath and said to no one in particular, "I have to prepare myself for this."
A bleary-eyed private walked past, his desert camouflage uniform rumpled and dirty, hair matted to his head, tears running down his left cheek.
"Try to take a break, man," a burly MP told him, offering a pat on the back.
Amidst the rubble, four pairs of boots poked out from under blankets. The charred floor was littered with sleeping bags, cots and military uniform belts. Near the body of one soldier was a letter addressed to a woman in Petersburg, Va. She would share his last moments of life.
by CNB