ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARKOVICI, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Protected by sharpshooters, Hillary Rodham Clinton swooped into a military zone by Black Hawk helicopter Monday to deliver a personal ``thank you, thank you, thank you'' to U.S. troops.
``They're making a difference,'' Clinton said of the 18,500 Americans working as peacekeepers in Bosnia.
Clinton became the first presidential spouse since Eleanor Roosevelt to make such an extensive trip into what can be considered a hostile area, though others have visited hot spots.
She was proud of the distinction:
``To be here on the ground is something I wanted to do so that maybe people back home would see it - not through the eyes of the secretary of the Army or someone in a position in the military - but like Eleanor Roosevelt, who has always done everything first, to visit the troops to say thank you.''
Accompanied by her teen-age daughter, Chelsea, Clinton plunged into a grueling goodwill tour designed to boost troop morale in Bosnia and highlight efforts by Bosnians, Croats and Muslims to resolve deeply held differences.
Standing on a dusty, makeshift boardwalk near an out-of-the-way military hospital, Clinton said, ``For the first time, children are playing again. Farmers are in their fields. People are moving into their homes.''
She acknowledged several ``bumps in the road,'' a point underscored just three days ago when a U.S. soldier was killed in a vehicle accident. Clinton visited the soldier's driving companion in the military hospital.
``It's not going to be easy,'' she said, pointing to the flight of Serbs from areas of Sarajevo they held as the city came under Bosnian control. ``Feelings are very deep. There is a lot of pain. There is a lot to get over - a lot to forgive if there's going to be reconstruction and reconciliation.''
But this was a day of celebration and celebrities - a day for the U.S. troops helping to uphold the Bosnian peace accord. Clinton held a USO show with comedian Sinbad and singer Sheryl Crow and briefly addressed the gathering.
Under hard, gray skies, Clinton told 1,000 cheering soldiers, ``The first thing I want to say on behalf of the president and everybody else is thank you, thank you, thank you.''
She applauded their efforts to keep peace in this troubled land. ``We know we can lead in war,'' she said. ``We are leading in peace.''
But the highlight of her trip were visits to two fortified posts outside the U.S. base in Tuzla. Even President Clinton, restricted to the base by bad weather in January, did not see as much of this war-wracked region as Hillary Clinton did Monday.
The troops seemed to appreciate it: cameras chirped like a thousand crickets as she chatted with mine-disposal experts, examined huge tanks and met a hero or two. Chelsea, 16, kept her usual low profile but remained constantly at her mother's side, posing for soldiers or talking softly with them.
Watching Hillary Clinton troop around in muted trench coat and pants, Sgt. Michael Tucker of Miami said: ``She's a very important person. For her to take time to come and see us means a lot.''
For others, though, this wasn't much more than a nice change of pace.
``Out here, it's kind of like `Groundhog Day': One day just like the next,'' said Sgt. Dave Mills of Somerset, Ky., referring to the Bill Murray movie about a day that wouldn't end. ``So anything good is really good.''
Mills is stationed at a mud-caked outpost near Markovici, a tiny town finally coming back to life after years of devastation. Hillary Clinton's Black Hawk arrived after a flight over charred fields and bombed-out buildings - scars of Bosnia's civil war.
Riflemen rushed to the brush line as the helicopter landed and surrounded her as she walked into the post. Located in a ``separation zone,'' the U.S. outpost nestles between two tree lines. Just months ago, one was Serbian territory, the other Bosnian.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB