European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes Somalia saturday december 19, 1992airport troops combat heat rain in Bairoa by Bob Klose staff writer Bairoa Somalia a though their Mission is delivery of food . Marines and French legionnaires came Here packed for War. Flight Crews aboard military and private transport aircraft arc accustomed to Landing on ends of the Earth airstrips where the greeting party consists of food Relief agents guarded by Raggedy somalian armed with ak-47s. But at the Airport Here there is a different View through the rear cargo doors of the c-130 Hercules that Are the food wagons in this Battle against famine and civil War. Once the Landing dust lifts it is Clear that the americans and French Crisp and precise and All business Are in charge. Passengers aboard the fleets of famine Relief aircraft who normally stroll off toward town trailed by curious townspeople now pass by Marine guards set up behind sandbags. About a half mile from the runway and Tarmac the multinational Force of operation restore Hope is set up to escort food convoys and fight a War if necessary. The Force arrived Here by a 77-vehicle truck Convoy and aboard helicopters. They brought along heavily armed armoured personnel carriers rapid fire grenade launchers and missile launchers. Helicopter gunships flew Security missions overhead and big Marine ch-46 sea Knight and Marine ch-53e super stallion helicopters ferried personnel. A we came prepared to a wide Range of options a said Marine maj. Mark Hughes a Public affairs officer normally based in new York. A a there a Little or no Law and order  Hughes said the occupation of the Airstrip went off without incident although Rifle fire was heard in the night. A they heard sniper fire but they did not receive sniper fire Quot said Hughes. The troops Are dug in around the Airstrip a hot and dry Job that turned cold and wet when a six hour storm filled Foxholes with water shortly after their arrival on heading for Somalia a amps Gus Schu Fliller . Troops in Livorno Italy carry a 300-Pound helicopter Blade to a shipping Container wednesday. Cd wednesday. Thursday the 600 men a the americans outnumber the French by about three to one a steamed dry and then baked under a searing equatorial Sun in Low Brush terrain that offers Little Shade. In addition to the dug in Security perimeter the marines and legionnaires occupied the remains of a former somalian military base adjacent to the Airport. The buildings All show extensive damage from heavy shelling during the two year somalian civil War. Few have roofs and Large holes have been blasted through the Stone Walls. Coils of razor wire were stretched around a Small tent Headquarters on the Tarmac. Daytime work Here is grueling especially for personnel working positions at the Airport Gate and wearing full Battle dress and flak jackets. The heat came after unanticipated rain and cold. A it was terrible a said Marine 1st sgt. Russ Briney of the 15th Marine expeditionary unit. A i think the somalian caught up with the drought in one  Brincy said the Security operation was running 47 chinooks will be loaded this weekend aboard a . Merchant ship destined for Mogadishu Somalia. Smoothly except for occasional interference by Friendly somalian. Quot the Only problem is most Are real curious. Some have apparently never seen a White face nor a Black face that is not somalian Quot he said. Lance Cpl. Dan Lohmeier member of a reconnaissance unit and native of Omaha neb said he was glad to be on the Road after spending More than a month aboard the amphibious assault ship Tripoli and supportive of the military a new role in providing humanitarian Aid. A a we re glad to be helping. Its definitely something that is Good for the military a he said. Lohmeier said reports of Lawless somalian gunmen especially those under the drug like influence of the native Plant khat Are cause for concern. A that is kind of scary. These Young men think they Are invincible and now they come along and want to fire on the marines a he said. If the shooting begins though he a confident the marines and legionnaires will prevail. A a in a positive about that a he  worker tells of the Good bad and ugly by Bob Klose staff writer Bairoa Somalia a Fiona Terry Al 25 a Veteran of care Relief programs in Vietnam Iraq and now Africa went Back to work Here under the new Security of forces in operation restore Hope. Terry was evacuated to Kenya on Dee. 5 after the care Headquarters in Bairoa was robbed of $20,000 and her colleagues no longer Felt they could protect her. The australian native who returned from Mombasa aboard a British Royal air Force famine Relief transport came to Bairoa in August when the death rate from famine was running about 200 people a Day. Since then she a been shot at and robbed forced to handle medical situations that at one Lime would have made her sick and lived under rugged and spartan conditions in a country where women Are second class citizens. But she was eager to rejoin her colleagues after . Marines and French legionnaires look control of the Bairoa Airport and began escorting food convoys. Terry was one of six of the nine care people in Bairoa who were flown out when looting and threats by somalian gunmen intensified. A if 1 bad known it would be two weeks a she said aboard the Raf flight Back to Bairoa �?o1 would not have gone. But it w As cry scary up  she said women Are treated As a commodity by somalian men. A if Icv come in to loot sour House Thev would consider a woman a Loo table commodity a she said. Terry is in charge of logistics for care in Bairoa. The Remote outpost operates supplemental feeding centers for children nursing mothers and pregnant women distributes raw food products assists in agriculture and water resource development and provides Basic health care. When she arrived almost five months ago she said Bairoa was being flooded with refugees driven from their Homes by civil War and famine. A in August it was just appalling. We had a death rate of about 200 a Day a she said. She said her care group feeds nearly 250,000 people about two thirds of the needy refugee population in the Bairoa Region. More than six other agencies a including concern world vision Catholic Relief the red Cross and doctors without Borders a also operate in the area. The efforts have Cut the death rate drastically. But the human crisis continues. A now the death rate is about 50 a Day. But those deaths Are mostly related to disease and malnutrition not starvation Quot Terry said. Terry has worked fur care three years spending Lime in Vietnam and Iran. Security in Somalia she said is worse than anything she has seen elsewhere. The been shot at a couple of times by my own guards and Drivers Quot she said. A i wanted to deploy a couple of vehicles to Mogadishu and my Security people and diner shot at me. A a it a very volatile. One minute they could be fighting for my life. The next minute they could be killing me.�?�. Conditions among and Between somalis arc worse too she said. A a in be seen and had to do things that would have repulsed me before make me throw up under Normal conditions a she said of the medical assistance she and her colleagues provide to people suffering from raw skin diseases Eye infections and the effects of diarrhoea. The worst she said was coming upon a Little boy who was attempting to push his lower intestine Back into his body with a stick. Disease is not the Only cruelty these people face. Terry said she was distributing blankets when a gunman struck a Mother and child with his Rifle and walked away with their blankets. Terry said she and other care workers have to look past the bad and ugly to enable themselves to continue working. A you switch off. People Are dying everywhere. But you have to switch off. You have a Job to do and you do it. The situation just drives you to do things you need to do a she said. Despite the horror stories Terry described programs that work miracles. Supplemental feeding programs can restore children to relative Gioni health in a matter us Days. Lac daily i ceding is a mixture of Mai a Beans Oil and sugar served with a bowl of milk and two High protein biscuits. Quot a you can see an enormous change in week. Kids Bounce Back pretty quickly. I they Are on the verge of death you notice change in a Day a she said. But enormous work needs to be done i the food Relief will have a Long term effect and Terry was optimistic the inter nation forces in Somalia will be used to make the difference. Terry criticized the americans an French for not arriving in Central somali sooner. A i feel it was imperative that they com but they moved in too slowly. I think the should Nave gone to Mogadishu and Baido at the same time a she said. But now that the marines and legionnaires Are Here she said she Hopes they i do More than just escort food convoys. A we have to come up with a new pc Gram a she said of care. A we have t work with the military to develop Road provide medical help and rebuild Home and provide  at this Point there is no indication the kind of Long term assistance is part of Opet action restore Hope. Terry joined the chorus of other Relie workers and somalis who Are urging the americans and Trench to disarm the Cour try s warring factions to prevent a return t anarchy w Hen restore Hope ends. W hat they be done is make All the Gur men the technical go Bush. If they leave i Thiee months then these groups Are Goin to Tome Back. Pushing All the gunmen t ground is not going to solve the problem ones us