European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 b the stars and stripes wednesday March 13,1991 gis own Rove the from Page 1 training is Good in be seen it with my eyes. I just Hope try to improve vehicle so they can distinguish enemy personnel in a night the incident occurred on a Stormy night that was described by one Soldier As the blackest head Ever seen. Potter and the six other soldiers from co a 82nd engr in were attached to k troop a 3rd so 2nd Cav regt unit. They and three k troop soldiers had been guarding enemy prisoners. The 2nd Cav regt was part of a Vii corps sweep into Iraq against Republican guard units. The engineers nor i Mally Clear the Way through minefields and other obstacles. The company a specially Wasny to needed however because the unit Hadnot encountered any land mines in three Days Potter said. At Nightfall on feb. 25, the fighting Force moved Back into a defensive posture with Bradley fighting vehicles arrayed in front of the squadrons tanks. This put the american guards and their More than 70 prisoners in front of the . Battle line. To Correct that the Engi cers and the k troop soldiers walked the prisoners Southwest about a mile to an area they believed was safely behind the Battle line Potter said. By this time it was raining heavily so the engineers put up a Tarp to keep the prisoners dry a Short time later a scout from one of k troops Bradley walked Over to Tell. The engineering squad that they were still 440 Yards in front of the Battle line. Rather than uproot the prisoners and move them Back the scout promised that the units Bradley would cover them Potter said. A a a a a a a a a about 1 a.m., enemy fire began flying overhead Potter said. The seven Mem her engineering squad jumped into its personnel Carrier while the three k troop soldiers climbed into their vehicle. The two personnel carriers moved toward the Friendly Side of the Battle line As they had been instructed to do if fighting a broke out. \ a. A a we were of for about five minutes a Potter said adding that their m113 armoured personnel Carrier had direct communication with the Bradley scout. A but i done to think communication got Down to the As their personnel Carrier moved past the line of Bradley and toward the tanks the k troop personnel Carrier was hit by on it of the Abrams Potter said. Seconds later the engineers vehicle was hit As Well. Both vehicles were hit on the left front Howard the engineers Driver and Chi. James Mccoy 29, the Driver of Thek troop vehicle were killed. The two others with Mccoy were wounded. After the engineers vehicle was hit Potter and his surviving squad members climbed out of the personnel Carrier and crawled about 330 Yards from the fire. The other five were Strehlow Powell spec. Edgar Castillo spec. Scan Dudley and pfc. Thomas Wright. About 20 minutes later a tank came services set Friday for american Cou Friedberg Germany a amps a a memorial service will be held at 3 . Friday in the Friedberg Chapel for the american couple found shot to death last weekend in nearby Staden. Billy and Sheryl Hawthorn and two German neighbors were slain in a Case that has mystified investigators. Billy Hawthorne 54, worked As a Counselor for the family assistance Center at Ray Barracks in Friedberg. His wife 42, had been employed for one week As a Counselor for social work services in Friedberg. She had formerly worked As a drug abuse Counselor for adolescents in the Giessen military Community. Battle casualties under investigation. A. A amps Lynda Davidson staff sgt. Ill Bart Potter with his wife Joy and 5-year-old daughter Amanda at the Hospital in Lan Stuhl. Toward them Potter said a i guess he thought that we were the the six formed a foot to foot Circle on the ground a in order to try to stay out of his Thermal sights a Potter said. The tank i which Potter said he recognized As an Abrams because of its Silhouette and sound moved to within 27 Yards of the Star shaped group of soldiers. A it started firing machine gun rounds at the ground a Potter said a it distinguish that we weren to the Potter kept telling the soldiers to stay Down but be said Strehlow and Powell tried to signal to the tankers that they were americans. The soldiers had risen to their Knees to wave and holler when they were killed by the fire Potter said. Castillo remembers those hours after Midnight As a the longest night of my they kept shooting and shooting a Castillo said from the Niernberg Hospital. A a what i did was just kept my head Down and prayed to god for them to Stop firing a said Castillo who turned 21 on the Day he was shot. Potter said the shooting lasted at least 25 seconds before a break of about 10 seconds. During that Short period Potter said he looked up at the tank. A it was an my a he said. A i could see it Plain As at that Point the tank fired what pot-., Ter estimated was another 25 rounds. He took hits in the shoulder buttocks and leg during that second Spray. A i went to move my toes and could t move them a Potter said. A i feel anything from my knee on Down i knew i was losing blood fast so i took the Sling off my m-16 and put it around the lower part and put a Tourniquet on his right leg was nearly severed by the machine gun fire Potter said he later found out. Castillo was first hit in the ankle. Prisoner holding a area members of co a 82nd engr in and k troop 3rd so 2nd Cav regt Are guarding iraqi prisoners tout find i themselves about 400 Yards in front of a . Position manned by other k troop forces. Key egg Ftp Abrams tank a per. Bradley fighting blew vehicle a. My 13 armoured personnel Carrier prompted by enemy fire the cavalry and Engineer personnel carriers attempt to move behind . Lines. Both vehicles Are hit killing the Drivers. Survivors of the engineers vehicle crawl behind the lines. Two Are killed and at test three wounded. Two survivors say they were hit by machine gun fire which one says came from an Abrams. Source eyewitness accounts a when i got hit in the knee i thought i Wasny to going to make it a he said. A i thought the next set of rounds would hit me where it would kill me. I thought 1 would make it until morning if we did no to get fired on Wright was hit by the firing but Potter did not know the extent of his injuries and the could not provide the information. Dudley was apparently not injured in the attack. Even after the tank had moved on the squad members Jay motionless to avoid being picked up on the Thermal sights Potter said. A every so often i would do a name count and Call out their names and make sure they All were there with the four surviving engineers plus the two survivors from the k. Troop person net Carrier were rescued after Daybreak. Sgt. 1st class Terry Crighton of am Berg Germany was in the k troop personnel Carrier that was hit shortly before the engineers vehicle. Crighton 36, who was in the Niernberg Hospital monday lost his lower left to the blast. He also suffered about 20 shrapnel holes in his leg and Burns to his face. His fellow Soldier sgt. Randy Willey 27, from Amberg Germany caught shrapnel in the Back and has been re leased from the Hospital Crighton said. Crighton said his personnel Carrier led the engineers vehicle to the Friendly fire Side of the Battle line after someone radioed that the enemy was a right on top of us a he said. When the carriers got past the Bradley they were radioed a a you re Good you re behind us now a Crighton said. He then radioed his company commander to report having problems with his Compass. A was soon As i got off the radio we got from Page 1 Tion. An operations sergeant in that office said the ticket normally would be forwarded to the a commander. However because Dixon is the unit commander the sergeant said he did not know what to do with the ticket. Failure to renew the registration on a a private vehicle is a violation of article 92 of the uniformed. Code of military Justice and Usa eur regulation 632-10, a military lawyer with the 8th inf div said. Punishment ranges from a verbal reprimand to an article 15. A but normally its nothing More than a letter of reprimand a the lawyer said. The attorney said that any officer who did what Braley claims would have violated several military Laws including obstruction of Justice conduct unbecoming an officer and failure to obey a lawful order. A and those Are just the violations i can think of off the top of my head a said the lawyer who asked not to be named. New sea Boss named Washington up president Bush announced tuesday that he intends to nominate former rep. Patricia Saiki a Hawaii to be head of the Small business administration. She will succeed Susan s. Engeleiter a amps Susan Harris hit.�?�. With fires to his left and right Crighton said he knew a it was time to get out of he and Willey exited the vehicle and crawled about 110 Yards from the track where they remained until morning. Crighton said soldiers who later saw his personnel Carrier told him that iraqis had hit it with some kind of missile. The shot entered the front of the vehicle Crighton said. As for what hit the engineers vehicle and later the men lying in the Sand Crighton said he did not know. Potter contends that the direction from which his vehicle was hit Means enemy fire could not have been responsible. A if the enemy was right behind me we would have gotten a shot from the Back Quot Potter said a if they investigators were to look at the vehicle the shot came from the although the says Powell and Strehlow were killed by a land mine Potter insists that tie and they were hit by machine gun fire. His wife Joy agrees. A a in be changed his bandages. I be seen the Bullet holes. I know Bullet holes and shrapnel would make totally different Castillo agreed that it was machine gun fire riot a mine that hit the six men on the ground. But Castillo said he has become confused by Crighton a. Belief that Crighton a vehicle was hit by enemy fire. The two men shared a Hospital room at Niernberg. A they told him the enemy was right behind us a Castillo said. A i believe it was the enemy now because of what that no in my room says and i would rather believe 3 Canadian ships leave Gulf for Home by the stars and stripes three Canadian forces ships left the persian Gulf for Canada on tuesday and most Canadian air Force personnel in Qatar will be Back in Germany by the end of next week a forces spokesman said. The destroyers Terra Nova and athabaskan and the Supply so Fly protect eur have been in the Gulf since september maj. Norbert Cyr said. About 80 percent of the 600 airmen in Qatar Are waiting to leave. A Canadian Field Hospital deployed to saudi Arabia will require the most time to leave Cyr said
