European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday March 18, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 3iraqi suffering hits gis More than fighting by the los Angeles time Southern Iraq guarding the peace maybe tougher than fighting the War for the Forward scouts of the . Army s 1st army div. After spending months in the lonely desert then devastating a division of the iraqi Republican guard during the ground War the Young soldiers and their giant tanks have rumbled into a new position six Miles inside Iraq guarding the northernmost . Checkpoint on the Road North to Iraq s rebellion torn City of Basra none of them liked what they saw dozens of iraqi children begging for food hundreds of ragged refugees camped in the desert burned out cars and trucks shattered Homes and farms. A this is the one part i did no to want to see a said pfc. Rueben Perez 20, of la Puente Calif a fall the homeless All the hurting. When we came through the refugee Camp Man that a something i did no to  the . Troops disarm iraqi soldiers trying to head South and Send them Back. They let civilians through to nearby towns and give chocolate to the children. And they wonder what the War has wrought. A a it a really sad a said sgt. Paul Brooks 22, of Denver. A a in a a Soldier. But in be got a family Back Home. We be got Little kids come up and see my gun and they Start crying. That really tears me  capt. Janies Bell 29, of Charlotte n.c., said that his unit had seen Only iraqi soldiers and empty desert until they arrived in their wind swept Highway outpost. A this is the first time we be seen civilization a he said. A and its really sad. A it just tears your heart out to see a baby crying because he needs Medicine. And there a nothing we can do. We be got a doctor in the rear but we can to take care of All these people. I Tell you the fighting in combat we saw was easier than  the scouts led the 1st army dives charge into Iraq on feb. 24. After a Tierce artillery bombardment of iraqi lines they raced North collecting prisoners and looking for trouble. They found it after Midnight iraqis Taw Klana division supposedly the crack tank troops of the Republic in the Gulf. A a a. A a a a. A a a. A a. A . Army doctor Clif Myles left of Cleveland Ohio treats an iraqi civilian for shrapnel wounds. Myles says he can find time to treat Only 2q to 30 of the thousands of iraqis who seek help every Day. Can guard. In the dark and at a distance most of the . Troops never saw the death and destruction they inflicted. A at night you kill and you Roll on by a said spec. Heath Oncale 20. A you done to Stop. You done to have to see anything. It Wasny to until the next morning the rear told us the devastation was total. Wed killed the entire division.�?�. By contrast they suffered just one killed and five wounded in the Battle. Here under a harsh Sun and the menacing cannons of their m1ai tanks they Are seeing the effects of War. Hundreds of refugees arrived Friday carrying meager belongings As they walked or drove up in overloaded cars and vans. An egyptian woman clutched her 2-month-old daughter in a torn Blue Blanket. Her husband said they lived by a Bridge West of Basra and had survived weeks of Allied bombing a we saw death with our own eyes Many times a he said. Two Swiss delegates from the International committee of the red Cross drove up. Each Day they drive North hoping to get into Basra where troops Loyal to Saddam Hussein continue to  rebels each Day iraqi troops turn them Back at a checkpoint 10 Miles up the Road. His companion said he was an iraqi vegetable Vendor in Kuwait who had turned himself in to police in Sula a six Days ago. The result he said was six Days of being blindfolded and severely beaten. Sgt. John Lapotaire 25, a Bradley fighting vehicle commander spoke of his Home in Oklahoma and then of the unwashed children who line the roads in nearby Safwan chasing cars and begging Tor food. A at least we can go Home a he said emotionally. A these people got to stay and live with this. When i get Home ill remember this More than the fighting. All these kids begging. This is the hardest part. A the iraqi soldiers Are armed a he added. A it he Little kids Arentt armed. They re just hungry.�?�1 St woman pow uneasy Over fuss parents say army spec. Melissa Rathbun Nealy and her Mother Joan answer questions. Newaygo Mich. Up a army spec. Melissa Rathbun Nealy Home after becoming the first woman taken prisoner of War in the persian Gulf conflict is uncomfortable with the attention she has received her parents say. Rathbun Nealy appeared briefly at a news conference this past weekend with her parents Leo and Joan Rathbun in the Back Yard of their Home in Newaygo in West Central Michigan. The 21-year-old posed for photographs in her desert camouflage fatigues and boots. However because she has not been debriefed she has been told not to speak about her experience As a pow. Rathbun Nealy was captured Jan. 30 by iraqi soldiers near the saudi kuwaiti Border. Her debriefing by army experts will come at fort Bliss Texas later this month Leo Rathbun said. A a she a embarrassed by All this a he maid. A she says t was just doing my  a Rathbun refused to say what Mission his daughter was involved in when she and her partner David Lockett were captured. He said Rathbun Nealy became a a hysterical when a Bullet struck the trucks steering wheel a and then she asked god to help  a a she is still taking medication Lor shrapnel wounds in her Arm her lather said. Rathbun Nealy was held by the iraqis until March 4, and her parents said she has told them her captors treated her Well. She also described her Captivity As Quot rather Boring a her parents said. I hey said she helped pass the time singing gospel songs and thinking about her  father said she has been approached by several movie studios and publish-., ers about Selling her Story but has not decided  do so. She will have to leave the army to sell her Story and she still has is months to serve. Rathbun Nealy is on a 30-Day leave but May rejoin her unit in saudi Arabia her father said. She plans to marry spec. Michael Coleman a member of her unit in August. Joan Rathbun said her daughter visited with a 9-year-old sexually abused girl from the Newaygo area who had prayed for Rathbun Nealye a Safe return. Quot they were both on Cloud nine a her Mother said