European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes thursday september 19, 1991 for a amps . Navy iraqi prisoners await instructions after being flown by helicopter to the amphibious transport Dock Ogden. Lebanese born Navy linguist starred in Gulf pow drama by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau for nearly three Days As operation desert storm Drew to a close the Ogden seemed More like a Chicken Coop than an amphibious transport Dock. More than 1,400 surrendered iraqi soldiers sat or Lay Oil ever7 i Nklan Enn Ara inn of til a Nhinh m. Ltd n a ways. T by available Square Inch of the ships passage the prisoners were from Fay Lakah Island in the persian Gulf near Kuwait. Helping Rescue them from a trap of their own making was a task tailor made for someone with the background of . Navy Petty officer 3rd class Assaad Elhage. Elhage assigned to natos joint comm group Naples in Italy volunteered for duty in the Middle East last september. In late january the 29-year-old native of Tripoli Lebanon arrived in Bahrain where he joined a newly created Navy staff Elhage going to work As a radio Man at a communications Center there. A when i checked in i told some of the officers that i spoke fluent arabic a said Elhage what became a . Citizen five years ago. Three Days after he arrived in Bahrain Elhage flew to the frigate Curts where he put his language skills to work. Elhage interpreted during interrogations of iraqi officers from two mine laying boats the frigate had captured. He also examined the prisoners personal belongings to glean what information he could. About 15 hours after he arrived Elhage and his coworkers left the Curts for Bahrain. He deployed again a few Days before the ground War began. He was a member of a 12-member team of sailors and marines that visited various amphibious ships preparing to launch an assault on Kuwait that never happened. Their first Stop was the amphibious transport Dock Shreveport which had captured four iraqi soldiers escaping from Fay Lakah Island. The group included an officer and three enlisted men. A the Captain said their command in Basra told them to leave by any Means possible but they had Laid mines everywhere. People could t go anywhere he told us and their food supplies were Down Tel Hage said noting that the officer s interrogation lasted 11 hours i translated a 30-Page document that the allies used to find mines in the Northern persian Gulf. I Felt very proud about that Petty officer 3rd class Assaad Elhage his group delivered the four iraqis to a base in saudi Arabia and then flew Back Over Kuwait to the Ogden. Instead of participating in an assault on Kuwait the Ogden a role during the 100-hour ground War was to be a Rescue ship and prisoner Barge. As they waited for orders to move Elhage taught a few necessary words of arabic a such As Stop move and sit Down a to the marines who would guard the iraqis. The operation began feb. 28. Aided by personnel and helicopters from other ships in the area Ogden a sailors and marines rescued the soldiers from the Island that had become their prison. Arriving on Fay Lakah by helicopter one team recorded prisoners names and assigned them numbers. During the flights to the ship marines confiscated everything but identification Ana Medicine. On the Ogden other marines verified the prisoners names and numbers showed them a list of rules written in arabic referred sick or wounded soldiers to a medical team and showed them their assigned spots in the ships passageways. Bringing the iraqis aboard took about four hours. A most of the prisoners were conscripts Tel Hage said. A they were taken from their villages and Given ak-47s Warsaw pact assault rifles a one of the draftees was a Semi paralysed Soldier carried off a helicopter by his fellow prisoners. Talking to the Young Man Elhage discovered that he was born with his affliction but drafted for service anyway. His supervisors on the Island assigned him to do office work. The prisoners wore a variety of uniforms and some even had jeans on. Their footwear also varied greatly from combat boots to italian shoes to Tennis shoes. The senior iraqi officer was a one Star general who asked his troops for a Volunteer to assist the americans. A a Captain volunteered. He told us where All the ground mines were and that the anti aircraft guns on the Island were fake Tel Hage said. A i worked with him for 14 hours. A the became nervous after a while because we spent a lot of time talking with him. He believed there were two or three Republican guards or secret police in the group and was afraid he might be turned  two and a half Days after they were brought aboard the Ogden the prisoners flew off the ship to prison Camps in saudi Arabia. Elhage returned to Bahrain on March 8, but his translator duties weren to finished. A i translated a 30-Page document that the allies used to find mines in the Northern persian Gulf. I Felt very proud about that Quot Elhage said. His duties continued until he returned to Naples in april. Military former . Airman awarded heroism medal Raf Ben Waters England a staff sergeant who recently transferred from Raf Bent Waters to a stateside base received the airman a medal for helping drag two injured people from a soldering car. Staff sgt. William Savary 31, who left Benwa ters on sept. 8 for Holloman fab n.m., was on a two week temporary duty assignment in september 1989 at Davis Monthan apr Ariz when he performed the act that earned him the Quot medal. The airman s medal presented to Savary on aug. 15, is Given for heroism involving the voluntary risk of life under conditions other than enemy conflict. On sept. 24, 1989, Savary was driving to Tucson ariz., after spending the afternoon at an old West theme Park when he witnessed an Accident Between an oncoming pickup truck and the Auto travelling in front of him. According to a Story that appeared in the Ben Waters base newspaper the forum Savary rescued the two passengers in the car Joan Weinshelbaum and her Uncle retired air Force it. Col. Herman Marmelstein while the trucks Driver and passenger were tossing Beer cans from their vehicle. A passing Motorist helped Savary free Marmelstein who had been trapped behind the cards steering wheel and dashboard after Savary had dragged Weinshelbaum from the car. Savary a former fuels technician with the 81st Supply so had been on temporary duty in Arizona for a training deployment in preparation for the 81st tac fighter wings entry into the gun smoke Competition a tactical aircraft weapons  unit honoured Raf Ben Waters England the 81st civil engr so has been honoured by a professional engineering association and . Air forces in Europe for outstanding engineering achievements. The society of american military engineers awarded the Squadron the maj. Gen. Robert h. Curtin award. Safe recognized it with the commands outstanding civil engineering unit award. Among the units accomplishments recognized by the two awards were the construction of both a Mission support and a Community Center the rebuilding of the runway at Raf Ben Waters and its involvement with the building of a nearly completed housing area of 293 leased Homes. The Squadron is commanded by it. Col. Glenn Haggstrom. The Curtin award is named after the former director of air Force civil engineering and the past president of the society of american military engineers. The award focuses on achievements in readiness resource management Quality of life resource conservation and Community and customer  commended Raf Ben Waters England a the chief of information management with the 81st tac fighter Wing at Raf Ben Waters has received an award from the Secretary of defense. Chief master sgt. Frank w. Goodwin received the commander in chiefs special recognition for installation excellence award. Goodwin a native of Livermore Maine has been the 81st�?Ts chief of information management for the past two years. Among his achievements during fiscal 1990 were managing the moves of five of the eight information management branches to the bases new Mission support Center and overseeing self help renovation projects at both the Ben Waters and Raf Woodbridge Post offices that resulted in an $11,000 savings to taxpayers. Also under his management the Post office operation processes mail delivered by boat within six hours 66 hours quicker than required by the . Air forces Europe Standard. Goodwin is a 24-year Veteran of the air Force