European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday March 19, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 3 in the Gulf Sailor s heroics earn medal nomination by Dave Schad Middle East Bureau a port in the persian Golf Seaman Scott Smith does t know it yes but the officers of the Princeton consider him a hero. When the Aegis class guided missile Cruiser sustained major damage from two iraqi mines feb. 18, the electrician ran to his assigned Post for nearly 20 minutes he ignored the Strong threat of electrocution while fighting to control a gushing flow of water in the ship. A i guess i could be been Fried like a marshmallow a said Smith 27, from Nampa Idaho. It. John Van Patten the Princeton a electrical officer has nominated Smith for the Navy commendation medal which is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement or service. A the does no to know he a been put in for it and we re hoping it will be upgraded a said Van Patten 31, from Glenville . The morning the ship was damaged Smith had just come off the night shift and was in his sections work space. Smith said the explosion in the rear of the Princeton pitched him across a room and he mistook the dust in the air for smoke a you want to print the first words that came out of my Mouth a he said. A i remember getting up and running Back to my Battle station in the no. 3 switchboard Smith said that from there he was supposed to assess the damage report it by phone and then do his Best to control it. When he entered the room Only the emergency lights were on and there was 2 or 3 feet of water from a broken pipe he said. A i really thought we were going Down a he said. Smith reported to the ships damage control team. One of its members realized that an electrical switchboard which helps distribute electricity in the ship was still on and began screaming at Smith to get out fast. Because of the noise in the room Smith never heard him. Standing in thigh deep water with the switchboard still on Smith stayed at his station shutting off the flow of water to the broken pipe. He knew the combination is of s we amp amp. Ass. A. A amps Dava Schad Seaman Scott Smith stands by the electrical switch boards where he carried out damage control duties after the Princeton struck two mines in the persian Gulf. Of electricity and Saltwater could easily result in a fire. �?o1 was scared and shocked a he said. A but i guess i stayed because its my duty. They Tell us our Job is to save the ship before we save ourselves. I did no to feel courageous or anything like that i did what id been trained to Smith and the others aboard the Princeton knew of the mine threat in the area. Less than three hours ear Lier mines had damaged the amphibious ship Tripoli. Because of that incident. Capt. Led Slont the Princeton s Captain said he wanted his Crew to be especially aware of the danger. A at 7 la on feb. Is1 was on the announcing system giving my morning report to the Crew Quot said Slont 46, from a Watsontown a. A i had just told the Crew that we had to be especially cautious on the Lookout for mines and that the Tripoli had hit a mine several hours earlier. Just As 1 made that statement the Force of the explosion under the Stern lifted the ship up and caused a whiplash living although Montz did no to know it at the time two mines had exploded. Van Patten said the first went off about 10 feet under the left rear of the Princeton. The second mine probably detonated by the first exploded about 300 Yards off the right front of the ship. A a the effect of two different explosions at opposite ends and sides of the ship was. Like being put inside of a tin can and shaken up for five or six seconds but it seemed like a lifetime a Van Patten said. A a. The explosions did t rupture the Hull but the rear of the ship was badly buckled. The Princeton Lay dead in the water without rudders to steer with. A subsequent evaluation showed that the rear or Fantail of the ship had lost 80 percent of its strength. Besides the damage three crewmen were Hurt and had to be airlifted out. None of the three sailors injuries proved to be critical. Within hours damage control parties had found and fixed Many of the problems. Most of the critical weapons were working within two hours of the incident and by mid afternoon the Princeton could have moved under its own Power. Afraid that if the ship attempted to get under Way the stress might make the Fantail break off the Captain decided to have the Princeton towed while a minesweeper led the Way. The ship is now in a persian Gulf repair facility where it will remain for several More weeks for repairs. After that the Crew will return to its Home in Long Beach s not Tooly s garage but grease is same by John Millar Middle East Bureau in the iraqi desert if the folks at Tooly a garage could see Jerome Jones now they a shake their Heads and laugh. Jones worked in the repair shop in Burlington township n.j., when he was a senior in High school. It was there that lie worked his Way up from sweeping the floors and replacing gaskets to overhauling diesel engines four years later Jones is still up to his grease covered elbows working on diesel engines. But this time the grime comes from under the Hood of a chinese made t-69 tank once owned by iraqis Republican guard. His garage consists of a couple of Orange red army toolboxes in the Back of a humvee in the Barren Sands of Southern Iraq. The 22-year-old specialist said Bobby and Russell Back at Tooly a would find the situation amusing a Bobby would say a Why Are you out there when you could be in a Nice shop like this a a and Jones would ask Hack Quot Why not a its the same reply he gave officers of the 11th aviation brigade when they asked whether he would take a crack at fixing enemy vehicles to ship Back to unit Headquarters in Hillesheim Germany. Besides its one of the few vehicles the Blond native of Willingboro n.j., Hadnot worked Orn Quot Jones is the kind of Guy who a used to wiping his brow with the Back of his wrist because his hands Are covered with engine grease. He pretty much grew up in a pair of mechanics coveralls and remembers helping his father put an exhaust system on an old Dodge Dart w Hen he was 8. A my dad was the Type who would say a if you want to learn come out Here and get your hands dirty a a a Jones said. He did. Later he took diesel mechanics at a vocational High school and worked at Tooly Sas part of a cooperative learning program. Before joining the army he worked on bulldozers farm tractors and big diesel trucks. A now Jones serves As a Mechanic with the 317th Maint support team which aids the aviation unit at Hillesheim. He usually works on trucks often doing the big jobs such As replacing engines and transmissions. Before that he worked with the 1st in 6th inf at Vilseck Germany where he repaired armoured personnel carriers. A a in be had a lot of Cross training so things like this 1 have a Ball with a he said of the iraqi tank. Brigade aviators found the tank in a dug in Bunker about 25 Miles North of their position in Southern Iraq Jones said. He a hit a couple of switches and it wanted to Crank Over but it did no to. We went to a couple of other ones but they were just As so he returned to the t-69. A we got it jump started put it in gear and it came right out of the Hole and we drove it All the Way although the tank ran Jones still had his work Cut out for him. A it caught a lot of shrapnel a lot of rounds mainly machine gun he said he had to search for a similar vehicle to replace a Gas tank punctured by Allied fire. Still he said the tank was in Good shape. A it looks like they had taken care of Jones returned to the desert junkyard a few Days later to find a replacement for the Radiator Hose which blew while he was showing the tank off at a nearby unit. Replacing the Hose was no problem he said but when the tank overheated it also blew an engine head Gasket. Quot a amps John Millar spec. Jerome Jones an army Mechanic stands in front of the chinese made t-69 tank that 11th aviation brigade officials want sent Back to Germany. A i done to know what we re going to do right now a he said. A a there a a slim to no Chance Well be Able to get just the head Gasket More Likely hell have to replace the entire engine and a a that a going to take some the Only other option would be to find another tank an increasingly difficult task on the once plentiful battlefields Jones said noting that British troops appear to be gathering enough iraqi equipment to form an authentic enemy Force for training exercises. A they try to go out there and gather up everything a he said a we try to beat them to it but nine times out of 10 we go out there and there a Only blown up
