European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse 101st airborne div troops headed for positions near saudi arabians Border with Iraq line up to Board a c-130 to country is the Way to go by Nancy Shulins q. Associated Pressi t s roughly 6,500 Miles from the persian Gull War. A to Manhattan. But the Little armed forces recruiting a station in the heart of times Square is As Good a place As any to feel its vibrations. The men and women who the Booth these a cold Winter Days to offer up their Young lives for Theira country have Only to turn their gaze upward for news of the War to hit Home v. A . A. A . A a ,. A a. Bright red letters scroll continuously past on the a electronic sign that girdles 1 times Square America s new years eve Headquarters a. Navy planes have sunk 2 Iraq ships Inq i Quot v Northern persian Gulf and chased 2 other boats from. Area Quot reads one headline a service provided by new York new a -. A . 1st sgt James Ellis the army rec Izilor reads the sign frequently this Marks the second time he s remained a stateside while others have gone off to War and Quot yes it is. Hard i think about it All the the 39-year-old. ,. Paratrooper enlisted in 1972 Only to sit. Out Vietnam at fort Bragg n o. A . Q q . A a there was a greater need for me Here Quot Ellis is Quick a to add. He understands in a Way others might not the motivation of people like Cephas Arrington 26, a bicycle messenger who has yet to pass the army s screening tested has already quit his Job in his eagerness to join up a. Q Quot there Are basically three reasons Why people enlist service to country education and turning travel and a. A. Adventure Quot Ellis a vvh11e education might not seem. Anywhere near the bargain it Low weeks ago the. Persian has produced a surge in patriotism and Pride that s almost palpable within the Glass walled recruiting station. A a Quot the service to country category is up Quot Ellis says As Are supportive comments from strangers who smile and wave and yell Quot Way to go Quot Asho strides by in ins starched army by professionals May to on the use Loo a the other Day a 30-year old now yorker traded a Law practice Lor an army uniform and a woman Iresh out of school signed up to Servo for a Recruiter these Are Good Days Force stall sgt Ronald w Watford who Shams the cubicle with Ellis and others a the people coming in am people who without it the army wont take him. Already like a Soldier. The guff War he says Quot is something weight of do. That s what we re out there for Iran vef warns off by Anwar Faruq. Associated press t he allies ranged against Saddam Hussein s army believe their Superior firepower will overwhelm the iraqis. But iranian veterans of the 1980-83 Iraq caution that their old enemy can to tenacious when its Back is to the Wall. Quot Quot the iraqis can take a great number of casualties and continue to fight Over the corpses of thou dead Quot said a Amir a infantryman who fought in most of the major Battles of the 1980-88 War Quot the americans Are going to a have to stomach a Tot of q he. Like others interviewed declined to be identified by. Anything but his first name. A. By conservative Western estimates 1 million people on both sides were killed in the Iran Iraq War the longest. Conventional conflict in this Century a. Can the americans take the kind of casualties the iraqis withstood in the 1980-88 War Quot Amir asked Quot most iraqi soldiers have eight years of. Real War a up. . The Young americans sent to fight have never a Batt Etrone never killed or been near death. Quot when we fought the iraqis both of us wont into the War we Learned to be Tough together the hell be bigger. It s better to. Get him out now when he s a Little crazy instead of later when he a crazier. My family Saysam signing my own death certificate. But if it s my time to die. I la die Quot . Americans Are sending against a hardened Alireza a wartime intelligence officer a Quot Saddam s command Over his troops is phenomenal. They re so scared of turning Back and being shot they re a willing to risk everything and continue fighting Quot Alireza said. Saddam has threatened to use chemical weapons. Alireza said while cause a lot of casualties Quot the psychological horrors for those who survived were just As great a. A . A. Former iranian paws spoke of harsh treatment by iraqi. Captors. A. A a \ . A -. Heydar Yazdan Shona who spent five years in the a. Mosul-4 prison Northern Iraq said that every new prisoner was beaten to divulge Quot military a he said there was one. Uprising in. The Camp a but Only a one Quot they beat us with steel cords and Iron pipes Quot he. Recalled. They hit one prisoner on the head so hard that f saw one of bus eyes pop out of its . He said he was captured along with another Soldier a who had an Arm and leg blown off by mortar fire a Quot he was when they came for us they Tirrez him in a shallow ditch and As i was led away a heard a single shot a. Quot that shot m my mind every vibrations want to .a. Owen Jerez needs to go on a diet. V Quot right now you weigh 204. to weigh 179,&Quot Watford tells Jerez peering at the numbers on the scale at a the Back of the cubicle Midway Between the Navy and the marines Jerez vows to return in a month minus some of his extra pounds but none of his enthusiasm. V Quot i be always been interested in the ,&Quot says . Jerez a muscular 19-year-old with three years of College accounting and a hint of a swagger. by the to camera recording his weigh in for an italian news show he says he would have signed a up eventually War or no War a. Quot a abut the nightly footage of air. Force pilots dropping their loads with deadly precision has t been lost on Owen w Jerez. Quot did you see it it s great. They put those bombs a right through the windows Quot a. A a. A Robert Schnickel of in ninth. Grade. Now 17, he has a new incentive Tor earning his High school equivalency diploma. To get the Job . ,. By the time he trades his stonewashed jeans and Black leather jacket for army fatigues America May no longer Quot be at War t Hope i get there before it s All Over Quot says. Schnickel his dark hair Slick with gel and one ear studded with earrings. He watches the action on television every. Night. Q.? -�?T1. A v. V Quot. A he thinks it would be Quot an experience. War changes the course of people s lives. Mentally t would age a couple of a years but i would be getting training to survive in one potential obstacle looms. Quot my room is overprotective. She does no to want me to a. Quot the marines Are looking for a few Good men. Kevin Miranda thinks he May be one of them. Miranda 18,. A Hopes to enlist in july alter picking up the three additional College credits he needs to qualify. A Quot Quot i feel there s a Good reason to fight right now. It Isnit a. Oil its Saddam. If we done to take him out now in five years Page 16 the stars and stripes. Saturday january 26, 1991
