
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991                   TAG: 9103010808
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                                LENGTH: Short

VIRGINIA SOLDIER TOLD SISTERS HE FELT HE WASN'T COMING BACK

The mother of a 23-year-old soldier who was killed in a Scud missile attack in Saudi Arabia says all she remembers after being told about her son's death is that she started screaming.

"I wish it had been over before my son got killed," Carrie Caldwell said of the Persian Gulf War, which ended just two days after the Iraqi missile hit a barracks near Dhahran and killed Army Cpl. Jonathan Matthew Williams and 27 others.

"I didn't want him to go, but he told me he had to do what he had to do," she said. "I still can't believe it. I still can't believe it. I want someone to tell me they made a mistake."

Williams, a Franklin native who joined the Army in 1986 after graduating from high school, told his sisters after he was recalled to active duty six weeks ago that he had a feeling he wasn't coming back.

"He said, `Don't say it to mama,"' said Charlotte Carter, one of Williams' sisters.

Carter said her brother told her, "I'm going to go there and do my job." She asked if he was afraid. "I'll do my best, but I'm not going to dwell on it," he answered.

Williams had been studying business administration at Tidewater Community College while working for a computer supply company. He impressed co-workers with his maturity.

"He stuck out," said Pat Iannatti, human resources manager at Kasei Memory Products where he worked. "For a young person, he was polished.

"There were tears shed here today," she said. "It was the last thing we would have thought. It doesn't seem right."

by CNB