Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 14, 1991 TAG: 9103140112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Associated Press/ and The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"For each of you, Desert Storm has a much more personal side," Gen. Carl E. Vuono said in a ceremony at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "You have paid a steep price in the name of freedom."
Also on Wednesday, an Air Force pilot said that he was physically abused by Iraqi interrogators.
"The treatment I received varied widely at the four different prisons I was held in," Air Force Capt. Harry M. Roberts said in a statement from Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. "I experienced physical abuse during four separate interrogations and one forced videotaping, but was otherwise not harmed."
Four of the five soldiers were present for the medal ceremony. The fifth, Staff Sgt. Daniel Stamaris, was in another part of the hospital recovering from two operations. He was injured in a helicopter crash.
Vuono pinned Purple Heart, Prisoner of War and National Defense Service medals on the four and said he was going to Stamaris' room to present the fifth set.
Each of the five, he said, will ask the question, "Was it worth it?" And each, he said, will find the answer "in the endless rows of American flags and yellow ribbons that cover our nation from coast to coast."
The others honored were Maj. Rhonda Cornum, a flight surgeon; Infantry Specialist Troy Dunlap; Specialist David Lockett, 24, a motor transport operator; and Specialist Melissa Rathbun-Nealy.
The Army, as well as the other military services, refused to comment on the condition of the returned POWs. The four who received the medals appeared to be well.
by CNB