European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday August 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 holding the line against contras sandinista rebel Battles Are rare but Savage by Andrew Selsky Chamarro Nicaragua a sweating heavily or a Daylong hike Over Muddy trails in tropical heat 100 sandinista counter insurgency troops shed theirn Flocs and grenade launcher and set up Camp in a Farmer s Field. About 60 Contra guerrillas passed through the Fiel just two hours earlier but managed once again to elude the sandinista soldiers. If the contras wanted to fight us we would hav Battles every Day said it. Carlos Flores Torres the sandinista company s 19-year-old commander. But instead they avoid combat and hide from the evasion is deliberate. In a direct confrontation the outnumbered contras would Lisken Cir Clement and annihilation. Flores commands the 3rd company of the Ramo Raudales irregular warfare battalion one of an unspecified number of counter insurgency battalions that Are the leftist sandinista government s main weapon against the contras. As Flores men set up hammocks and makeshift tents a Bruce Springsteen song blared from a Soldier s radio. A full Moon bathed the misted mountains i Silver Light and a Soldier on guard duty trapped a firefly in a plastic bag so he could illuminate his wrist watch without attracting the enemy s attention. The soldiers Many of whom interrupted their educations to serve two years in the army dismissed the United states charge that the sandinista govern ment is a soviet military Pawn and nest of terrorism. They said the sandinista Are helped not just by the soviets but also by Canada Sweden Spain and other countries. Most of the soldiers were children when the Sandi nistas ousted the right Wing pro american Somoza dynasty in 1979. We want to build our own society we need to raise the economic level of our people said it. Noc Rivas. He touched a rough Wall of the Farmer s Shack an said this is a poor House and unfortunately it is a typical nicaraguan House. These people should t be living like this. But 60percent of our National budget is spent on the War he said. The War is holding us Back from improving the . Congress recently approved $100 million in new Aid for the contras. The sandinista soldiers said the Money won t buy Victory for the rebels Butwill prolong the conflict and Lead to More casualties for both sides. The night in Camp was tense. Once a guard mistook Appolo sanding to counterinsurgency troops last week searched for Contra guerrillas in the Jungle near Zomp opera Nicaragua. A Shadow for a Contra and fired a burst from his ak-47 automatic Rifle. Two Days later the company moved cautiously through a narrow Valley. Civilians reported contras had walked Down the same Trail earlier that morning and stores sent patrols Down Side paths to flush out any waiting contras. The Contact when it came was sudden and Savage. A sandinista patrol was walking up a Knoll covered with Palm Trees about 100 Yards off the main path when contras hiding in the Palms opened fire with dozens of automatic rifles. The sandinista answered with their own Fusi Ladeas they rushed up the Knoll. Bullets ripped through the leaves around their Heads and thudded into the Earth. Flores on the main path pulled his men Back to Clearing beside a House to set up a mortar and grenade launcher. Rocket propelled grenades launched by the contras crashed with a Boom beside the path. A woman ran from the House and crouched behind Brick outhouse covering her cars and face with her hands As 20 Yards away the sandinista soviet made grenade launcher and the mortar began pounding the Contra held half hour later the fighting was Over. The Contra withdrew leaving two dead. One sandinista sold1 stepped on a Contra Laid mine and was wounded. No sandinista were Hurt in the contras opening men camped on hilltops near the Battle. Rifle and mortar fire punctuated the night As other sandinista troops spotted Contra patrols. At about 5 . A voice called from the previous Day s Battle site help me get me out of a sandinista patrol found an injured con tra who was abandoned by his comrades. Gnats bunched around a gaping wound on the Young Man leg. Sandinista medics treated him and sent him to Hospital. For him the War is Over. Wes Sarge Doc reunited after Vietnam by Jonathan Karp Washington Post Washington they were three Young soldiers who shared a foxhole in the humid Jungles of Vietnam. They knew each other As simply Wes Sarge and Doc because they said they did not want to get emotionally attached in combat. They d been together for Only a few months when a mortar hit their foxhole at 3 30 . On May 13. 1969. The men were scattered by the blast and suffered serious injuries. Each believed the others had been killed. Mark Wes Weston now 37, was haunted by that incident and has searched on and off for the past 17 years hoping to discover the full names of his compatriots just to say goodbye to wednesday Weston ended his search at the Vietnam veterans memorial. Instead of paying disrespects to two names on the Wall there he was Chat Ting with Doc and Sarge. They had been tracked downy a California television producer who wanted to help reunite them. They could t believe it that i was alive and i believe it that they were alive said Weston a winery hospitality coordinator who lives in Forest Ville Calif. Santa Rosa Calif., television producer Cathy Gaz Zano became interested in the plight of the three Veter ans after she interviewed Weston for a Story on the Vietnam veterans memorial. When Weston said hews trying to discover the full names of his fiends so he could pay Bis respects to them in Washington she offered to help. Five months later Gazzano obtained the full names and discovered the men were alive. When she called them she said they reacted with a mixture of disbelief and Shock. Don Doc Krieger 38, now a building maintenance supervisor in Wauseon Ohio said he thought she was trying to sell him something. Krieger would t believe the Story until he spoke to Weston on the Telephone and asked him a series of detailed questions about the incident Gazzano said. The third Soldier Anthony Sarge Branco 41, col lapsed when he got the phone Call and could t speak about it immediately Gazzano said. Since those Calls the three have resurrected some of their Vietnam experiences and for once found Happy ending to an incident they had been trying to forget. It s like a Lump Weston said. It s like a wound that never heals. It comes Back and it comes they arrived in Washington monday evening an stayed up most of monday night and tuesday night talking. They were to leave thursday. As they sat on the grass in the Vietnam memorial Park wednesday they talked about the War their Friendship and How they be changed. One wore Blue jeans the other wore Black Slacks an the third wore shorts. Their personalities were As Dif Ferent As their clothes. Weston who initiated the search was vibrant and talkative Krieger soft spoken and Branco who before this trip had never travelled East of Hawaii reticent. You had a camaraderie Over there that you Don t have Here said Weston explaining How three men who knew so Little of each other s Back grounds could feel so close. In some Way you want to touch these people because you shared things. You eat together you sleep together you dam near go to the potty together said Weston. He was 19 when the mortar hit. Krieger was 20, and Branco was i was the old Man Branco joked. They served in the 101st airborne div located inthe Lashau Valley near the laotian Border. It was their Job to Supply weapons for he ground troops. The explosion occurred while Krieger and Weslo were sleeping and Branco was outside. They fled separately when the blast occurred. Krieger suffered serious leg injuries almost lost his right leg and spent seven months in the Hospital. Weston was hospitalized Fornix months with leg and lower Back injuries. Branco spent most of the Day helping sol Diers injured in the attack. He did t realize he d been hit until he sat Down at the end of the Day. He spent three Days in a Hospital and had shrapnel removed from his lower Back. Krieger and Branco said they tried to forget about the attack and the feared deaths of their fellow sol Diers just As they tried not to get too close to each other during the War. If you got to know them too Well and they go blown away then you d really be Hurt Krieger said. Now they re not afraid to get close. Weston said Athirst they were chatting about the weather but by tues Day it got to be pretty intense with reliving the Actu Al i feel it s settled now for me Weston said. I retouched these men. Now i can go on with the rest of my
