European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Civilian Harry Rennison stands by a humvee in Northern saudi Arabia. Zrilian government employees contractors also went to War by Gary Pomero staff writer. R a. S Harry Rennison prepared to deploy to the  in outer nor. He overheard n Soldier Quot a trying to. Reassure a woman Whoso husband was a cooing to saudi Arabia. A .--1-. -. Quot Why worry about your husband being in saudi Quot Rennison remembers the Soldier saying. Quot since he s a. Civilian he s not Obi Hadd be in any  Quot but the thousands of civilians like Rennison who spent time in the  found out that no myth could have been further from the truth. Scud missiles and duty near -. Y. H a a  front  that and adjusting to res and the Lack of. Privacy were overshadowed by the Quot constant worry about chemical attack Quot Rennison said h. Rennison 45, an armament munitions chemical come civilian with the 11th Arm d Cav regt at a Fulda Germany. Rieva ded for saudi. Arabia on dec 10. He was assigned to the 24th inf div Mech from fort Stewart. A _ for three weeks.7 a a we were about six a Miles from the iraqi Border Quot said Rennison whose 24 years of government service include 12 years in the Navy.  were under the impression Vibat we had a 30 percent Chance of being killed or wounded and being  to the Border you re in artillery Range and so you re always wondering. A is an incoming going to come one of these. Quot days�?T7 once the ground War started they went. So far. And so fast it was  Quot  Felt appreciated by tie soldiers. Quot they liked it because we were there Quot said Rennison one of 24 civilians assigned to the division during the War. Quot they did not believe that civilians were where they were ,. At. Once we went to the Border no one. Could believe we were ,  saw us in Iraq they definitely did  we wore supposed to be.  civilians have been mostly ignored in the Media Glitz for service members returning from operation desert storm. But they filled roles from vendors to front line technicians the number of civilian contractors was not tracked but. Defense  strength in the , was just less than 4.000. A Central come spokesman sad and like the mini tary members sent to the  the government civilians did t All Volunteer. For Many it. Was required for continued employment As compensation some government civilians were authorized overtime , and others also received a form of danger pay depend no upon where they were deployed Quot one army civilian. James f. Neberman died on feb ,?5. In Quot a non hostile incident Quot while assigned to the 2nd Arici  fwd an. Army Materiel come spokeswoman said the 37-year-old. Logistics assistance representative from the Arrari Arient munitions chemical come at Rock Island. Ill. Is believed to be the Only civilian fatality of desert a. Storm said . Col. Ruth a Davis the command a . Army Quot a a. Officials would not release any details of his death a or Paul Thiffault. A civilian a contractor lived inthe Back of a humvee purchased by his firm As he followed the. 2nd army div fwd. Through the desert. He. Weathered Sand storms a the freezing cold and a. K chemical weapons drills a right along with the troops. During the air War. He had the full complement of combat protective clothing including the flak jacket  a a a a chemical gear. A. It. He went with the unit when it deployed from Karlstedt a a a a a Germany on Jan 4 Quot i was apprehensive about coming Here Quot said Thiffault get s Field service Engineer for Mobile subscriber equipment the defense department s Field i communications Telephone system Quot ,. A Quot but i really have a  of Confidence in the american Soldier Quot the Georgetown Texas native said Quot they re the Best in the . _. Thiffault s salary was supplemented by a form of danger ,. Pay tote provided to its employees in the Gulf. U it was generous compared to what soldiers Are paid for dangerous duty he said a no decent company sends civilians to  without ample compensation we re not trained to survive in that environment. I can t imagine any company sending people Here without some form of . K    came during the scud -1 missile and artillery alerts during the ground War he was. With. The head combat units  Juncie Wibly Mark to describe the after the Wair and once Arm d div s be walked up to t close to the Ai i Roy said t Tike a uniform i  the Cai brought them. I Arnold we an cafes Erh As a civilian you Don t t you re going to be a target so we did t feel we were danger until we got there. A Arnold Weber cafes Ems changed their others May a when things g in spite of to Weber said that the Field during David sum unit was asked Quot i really can armament my aviation Brigati Quot i just knew had t gone Summers 5 helicopters. He was in s had difficulty a thousand othe 40 Miles North a Quot Little did i r David Summers a amps gory Pomeroy scud kills son father was near front m Arry Rennison would have loved to share a yellow ribbon band playing Welcome Home. From operation desert storm with his 21 year j old son spec Ronald Rennison Quot  missile destroyed his Chance. A Quot on feb 23,"the elder  with the 24th inf div Mech. About six Miles South of the iraqi Border waiting for the signal  ground offensive the civilian logistics representative also was waiting for his son. Who had been recalled to Active duty after. Separating from the army seven months earlier. Ronald a truck Driver was to be assigned with his fatties. But Fie had t caught up Voth the unit and the fatties was worried because repeated Calls to the personnel. Replacement Center m Dhahran. Saudi Arabia yielded no information. Quot _. I knew i was going into Iraq so i called my Mother Quot m Iowa to find out whether be turd  Ronald. Harry said she had t. A a the ground offensive began the next Day and Harry s desire to learn the whereabouts of his son intensified. Ronald had arrived in saudi Arabia a few Days earlier. And was billeted in a Metal warehouse that had been converted into a rear area Barracks near Dhahran. Also in the building were soldiers from the 475th quartermaster group a water Supply Reserve unit from Farrell Aharry was still poised near the iraqi Border with the 24th s rear detachment Cin feb 26 when he Learned of a scud attack the previous evening that destroyed the Home. Of the quartermaster group fearing that his son was among the 28 fatalities he. Queried the red Cross but was assured that the victims. Were Quot All strictly Pennsylvania  a Quot a the rear detachment moved into Iraq the next Day on March 1, As the / settled into an Nasir Yah Iraq on the. Euphrates River.  that his son was killed in the scud . A. A Quot. A. A a he was granted emergency leave  a hop a from Dhahran to diem main a Germany. While waiting on Board a c-5. Tor the second leg o his trip to the states a Soldier s comment made the Soj spoken Man momentarily lose his Cool. A some army sergeant made some remark about having dumb ,. Civilian in a military plane with All the returning soldiers from  he said Quot i just asked him where he was stationed in saudi Arabia. I said i just came from the euphrates River in Iraq where were you Dhahran a. Quot i was very upset. A Crew member on the Light knew about Ronald s death Ana Baoec Soldier wer last we Sav after the. Where he r German t Hack party return War Era and to Page 14 the stars and stripes wednesday june 5, 1991