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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 4, 1993                   TAG: 9305040101
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA                                LENGTH: Medium

THEIR SOMALIA MISSION COMPLETE, U.S. TROOPS HEADING FOR HOME

The adjacent squatter camp is still there, but the residents aren't starving anymore. Still, burglars try to get through the barbed-wire fence each night to loot the headquarters of Operation Restore Hope.

Over the past five months, the U.S-led multinational effort has virtually eradicated starvation and helped restore some semblance of order to Somalia after it imploded in civil war, famine and disease last year.

Today, the United States turns control over to the United Nations, which will call the effort Operation Continue Hope. More than 4,000 Americans will remain for about a year, including a quick-reaction force to quell unrest.

Lt. Gen. Robert Johnston will surrender command to Lt. Gen. Cevik Bir of Turkey, who will lead a U.N. force that eventually will reach about 28,000 troops.

U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines have been leaving by the planeload over the past two weeks, flying home to bases in California, New York, Texas and other states.

Since they began arriving Dec. 9, death rates for towns like Baidoa and Bardera have dropped from hundreds a day to less than a dozen daily - a figure aid officials consider normal. More than 350,000 people died last year.

The 23-nation effort has fulfilled its mission of guarding food shipments and curbing lawlessness. Aid workers are now able to concentrate on primary health care.

But the country will need help for years to come. Bandits remain a constant threat. Kids who haven't seen a textbook in years are well versed in theft and rock-throwing. There's no government or court system.

And because security in the countryside remains dicey, many farmers have delayed returning to their fields for the wet season that already has started in some regions.

Still, there's little doubt there's been a drastic change in Somalia. The streets are relatively safe, at least during the day. Markets are thriving.

"I think we made a tremendous difference," said Maj. Ken Roberts, the U.S. Army spokesman who was heading back to Fort Hood, Texas. "We've done what we set out to do. Now the Somali people have to come together and rebuild."

A group of kids was perched on the edge of a damaged building's roof like birds on power lines. They waved and shouted "A-mer-i-ca."

At the airport, the soldiers cleared their guns and rifles for the last time in Somalia, then hauled their bags to check in for the flight on a Boeing 747 jet that would take the last 350 of them home. About 190 U.S. military logistics personnel leave Tuesday.

The troops filed through a metal shipping container, marked "Gateway to the USA," for a detailed Customs check before picking up a pink boarding pass.

Air Force Capt. Joe Davis held out hope for Somalia's future if children can be steered away from crime and violence.

"The children playing in the streets are like children all over the world," he said. "Unfortunately, you have some 10- and 12-year-olds here carrying guns."