European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 7, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday june 1 1991 the stars and stripes age 3 a by Joseph owe staff writer Zakhoo Iraq the Stampede begins just before Sunset. A Quot a handful of pint size joggers races through tidy rows of tents at one of the refugee transit Camps built East of Zakhoo for displaced kurd. The crowd swells As it lumbers Forward collecting stray children with every step. And unlike the other groups of children who Scurry about in the Camps these runners do Jody Calls taking their cues from army staff sgt. Raymond a. Seymour a heavy equipment supervisor with he support co 94th engr in of Darmstadt Germany. Quot How a doing a Seymour crows his Robu Strame. Bobbing up and Down with each step gliding Forward amid a Cluster of Small bodies like the Lone Candle on a huge rolling birthday cake.1.a How a doing a the children shout their kurdish accents lost in the cacophony. Seen from a distance the moving horde becomes a dust cloaked Silhouette As it passes in the waning sunlight. Mothers tending babies and fires pause briefly turning their necks to watch the spectacle until it turns the next Corner and moves put of View. Seymour pulls to a halt As he reaches a Row of spigots. Someone offers him water. He pours it Over his head and emits an exaggerated theatrical moan of Relief. Then he begins to shout three and four syllable phrases some of them unrecognizable gibberish and the kids a cup every one with the gusto of repentant sinners at a tent revival. A Seymour a 36-year-old native of Berkeley. Calif., stumbled into his pied Piper role by Accident. He and pvt. 2 James a Rodgers 19, a Fork lift operator from Chicago went running through a transit Camp after work one evening in Early May. Because the Camp population is made up mostly of children with a lot of free a when i go to work they come up and hold my hand. When we leave for Germany m really going to feel it.1. A staff sgt. Raymond at. Seymour time ions. Compan a and Ever since then Little kids follow up a said Seymour whose spare time in Germany also involves children. He has served As a Little league coach la for three years. ./�. C y7 o the Community exercise is leading gradually to More substance in =.conversation. Seymour has Learned about 12 words i kurdish from the children and. "1. Notice when i come to work the next Day. Thevil come up and speak English to one boy of Shouf 10. Sabah brings him five apples every Dav. Seniour has Luule prolonged visits to Sabah s family in their tent. At the end of this evening s run Seymour gathers the children by now 100, in Circle. He stands at the Hub. And directs a Gorilla drills in which the children race in various directions around the Circle just As the soldiers in seymours unit do in physical training. Then after a round of push ups and a succession of word games Seymour slips out of the crowd surreptitiously while a kurdish speaking Relief Agency worker tells the. Children a Story. Seymour Hopes to return Home to Darmstadt in time to celebrate his own twins first birthday with his wife Cindy but neither he nor Rodgers looks for a aril to leaving their kurdish exercise Lins. A to see the enthusiasm in a child s face it. Just makes you want to do More for them a said Rodgers who is single. �?�1 put my heart into it. 1 just want to grab one of them and take him Back to Ilie a when i go to work they come up and hold my hand a a Seymour said. A when we leave for German to really going to feel by Crystal Laureano staff writer schwetz1ngen, Germany a the Homecoming Celebration wednesday for the 115th postal co was a bittersweet reunion. The company that spent six months in saudi Arabia moving mail to and from desert storm troops was made up of army postal group Europe soldiers irom several countries. When the unit returned May 21, the soldiers went Back to their Home units scattering the tight knit groups of friends that had formed in the desert Sand. �?o1 already miss my buddies from saudi a said spec. James Wilson of the 127th postal co in Nurnberg a a we used i already miss my buddies from saudi a spec. James Wilson to hang together and talk about everything. Back Here in the unit it s not the same. There is some animosity and people Aren t elements of nine Germany based postal companies met on the Parade Field wednesday As the 115th reunited to hear words of Praise from col. Edward Don Nan jr., postal group commander and Brig. Gen. Mary c. Willis commander of 1st personnel come. A you were asked to perform a monumental Mission under austere and Barren conditions and you did so with Honor a Donnan told the soldiers. W Illis echoed those sentiments a when i last visited with you prior to your departure to Southwest Asia your spirits were High and your Confidence inspired us she said. A your great accomplishments in desert storm proved that Confidence was Well founded. You did a truly remarkable Job decile monumental after the speeches and award Quot an outdoor reception gae the soldiers a Chance to spend some time with their friends from the desert. A becoming Eloe to the members of a platoon in saudi Arabia was t a Choice spec. Marcelo of the doth a a. A a a a a a. A amps l. Emmott Lewis of Chi. Kerico Cook of Frankfurt greets other members of the 115th postal co during a Welcome Home ceremony wednesday at Tompkins Barracks in sew Etzinger Germany. Postal co in Hunau. A we lived in the same tent and shared everything for six months a he said. Quot there was a lot of work to do and everybody worked together. I guess that a part of it a but Marcelo won t let the return to his unit separate him from his friends for Long. A now i la just be travelling through Germany to see he said. A spec. John Kuebler also from the 40th in Hunau was part of a platoon of 17 soldiers who spent most of the six months Quot out in the Quot and somewhere supporting the highly Mobile 2nd army Cav regt. As a re Quot it the group became like a 1am-i a he said. A Comine Back is different because we had gotten used to working with the same people and you gel that Bond and know How to work with each other a he said. A then you split up and have to work with new people. A lot of us came Back to units full of new people that we Don t even know. A. �?o1 kind of feel out of Cap. Mary Shaw commander of the 115th postal co in Kaiserslautern who commanded the deployed unit also returned to some changes. A live Cone Hack to a unit whet basically Hall of the people Are new. J done to know them so things Are Ery dil Lerent a Quot she said. As Donnan praised inc Wmk of the 115th, lie directed the crowds thoughts to another group of postal soldiers. A i ask you to remember those of our soldiers who remain in saudi Arabia us Well As those in Turkey and those about to deploy to Kuwait As they carry on with the difficult tasks at hand a Donnan said. Wilson was one person in the crowd who did t need a reminder from the colonel. His a Best buddy volunteered to stay in the a scr i. A the was in the same unit i. Wave. Ien Naing but we. Did t talk to each Oiler Noah Wilson said. A but when we went Down there we became in neilds a Zety Good i lends. A ale. Tried to gel in touch with him. But j Luo ii l a tiling. I did t. A in get u i a in is k us i a a /
