European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 26, 1993 Somalia the stars and stripes Pago 11 a Marine getting in a Little rest and relaxation leaps sunday into the Indian Ocean off a Coral reef near the Airport at Mogadishu Somalia. In december the marines landed on the nearby Beach As they began operation restore Hope to Aid the starving population of  time wrong Village for marines australians by Reid g. Miller the associated press Bairoa Somalia a it began with the Type of precise planning that goes into the taking of a military objective but this time the goal of american marines and australian soldiers was humanitarian. T he Mission was very nearly botched. The objective delivery of 44,000 pounds of wheat to the starving people of an isolated Centra Village with marines flying in the food by helicopter and the aussies providing Security. The task Force three ch-53 helicopters and their Crews from heavy Marine helicopter so 363 of Camp Pendleton calif., and 35 men of the australian  s 34th Security group. The plan Fly the aussie troops to the Village of Malcol 15 Miles North of Dai doa to secure a drop zone then deliver 400 110-Pound bags of wheat on pallets Slung beneath the helicopters. A this is our bread and butter the thing we do Best Quot said it. Col. . Spurlock 41, of Middleburg ky., commander of the Squadron known As the a Lucky red  a we should be in and out real fast Quot Spurlock said. They weren to. Marcel is but one of hundreds of villages that have yet to be touched by a massive International military and civilian Effort to feed and care for an estimated 2 million starving somalis. More than 350,000 people already have died of hunger anti disease in the past year in a catastrophe born of clan warfare and drought and aggravated by the widespread looting of food Aid. The Mission began with a briefing in an open sided tent at the Dusty windswept former somalian air Force Quot base at Bai doa. The former base once served As the Home of a Marine battalion that handed Over control to an australian Force last wednesday. Attending were Spurlock and his ranking subordinates a . Air Force combat air controller and it. Todd Everett 25, of Canberra who would Lead the australian Security detail. With them was Paul Enright 37, of Dublin a local project officer for the Irish Aid Agency concern. The organization had asked the americans and australians for help in getting the food to Malcol the Mission was explained with the help of flip charts. Everett outlined How his men would deploy at the drop zone just outside a Eccl. Questions were asked coordinates and times set. A we done to expect any trouble but you never know Quot Spurlock said. The three a Lucky red lion helicopters took off on time saturday at 10 a.m., flying a Zigzag path toward Malcol by /so0�n>l<rt \ / it a of Jotun a a. A. A a a a Mogadishu Kmon a ass cause As Spurlock explained a we Don t want folks on the ground to guess where we re  As they approached their target Spurlock told his flight Crew and the two accompanying choppers a wok group looks like nothing a Here but slay by your weapons. I in going in and make one Circle around the zone. With Spurlock a aircraft in the Lead the three helicopters came in Low Over the drop zone a fallow farm Field of red dirt. Then they swept around in a Light arc before Landing in huge Clouds of dust. The aussies sprang from one of the choppers and began fanning out in a wide Circle. The helicopters flew Back to Daidola picked up the first of three loads of wheat that each would deliver and returned to drop them. Meanwhile Enright the concern representative spotted a few villagers approaching the Edge of the Field and walked Over to talk to them with an interpreter. A loud discussion ensued with much gesticulating. The troops had landed at the wrong Village. A this in t Malcol its Mintman a said Enright a and we delivered a Load of food Here by truck just two Days ago Malcol is North of Here and we think the Road is mined the rest of the Way that a Why we wanted the  two somalian runners were sent to notify the people of Malebel that their food was at Mintman a Ama Lecle a 10 Kil Meiers about 6 Miles from Here or 7, or 4,�?� said Enright As he the marines and aussies settled Down to wait. A it May have a truck or  almost an hour later a Cloud of rolling red dust was seen approaching through the scrub and Thorn Trees surrounding the Field. A a it a a truck a cried Enright a nah the Luck of the Irish Quot t he truck was crammed with men from Malcol including their chief Lalaji Mustaf Aden 57. As the food was loaded onto the truck the Village Leader no id what the food s delivery meant to his Village a before this we have been eating the skins or the dead animals and the weeds. We have 670 people in the Village including the children. Between 1.4 h and 1,500 have died. Still they arc dying. It is terrible.death toll decreasing but misery lingers by Edith m. Lederer t he associated 1�?~rcss Bairoa Somalia a Labiba to How insisted on climbing onto the death truck making its morning rounds so she could watch Over her 5-year-old daughter Nardoza wrapped in a Small shroud on her final journey to the cemetery. In a cemetery crowded with unmarked Graves to How Laid Nardoza to rest alongside a nameless child and three unknown adults picked up by the truck such terrible personal tragedies continue every Day in Bairoa but fewer mothers like to How Are losing children. The massive International Relief Effort has Cut the death toll dramatically in just four months. In september the death truck was picking up 350 bodies a Day. This month gravediggers have been burying from five to 13 bodies a Day according to the somalian red Crescent. The red Crescent is a Muslim organization equivalent to the red Cross. The expanding Relief Effort and the arrival of the . Marines in dec 16 have transformed Bairoa from a City of death to one of Hope. A the marines have changed everything a said Liu Sein Dahir Ahmed manager of the red Crescent. Quot the have returned peace and Tranquility to Bairoa. The heavily armed vehicles known As technical that used to roam the streets Are gone though some gun men still loot under cover of darkness. The Market has quadrupled in size. Hundreds of orphans arc learning their aus and several schools Are about to open Tea shops that closed at dusk now Hustle until Midnight. Or. Mohan cd Ibrahim Huschin the regions new governor fears the dramatic drop in the death toll is Starling a cutback in Relief at a Lime when be believes 30 to 40 percent of people in Bairoa and thousands More in the Countryside arc still starving. The International committee of the red Cross and the International Relief Agency care have reduced the number of food kitchens they operate in Bairoa and Many other Camps and kitchens Are going to be closed he said. A we Are requesting the International Community to increase food and Medicine. To give Farmers seeds tools and machinery. And to invest in rebuilding Somalia a Huschin said. Above All he said . And Allied forces must disarm the gunmen Many of whom have fled outside the City to secure the future of the Region. The red Cross and care said the governors estimate of a Idoa a hungry is too High. They said they Cut the number of kitchens because fewer somalis were using them. Relief agencies have been trying to switch from cooked food at kitchens to distributing dry loud such As Mai a or sorghum so somalis can eat at Home with their families t lie kitchens were begun on a mass scale because people were being robbed of thei utry rations the arrival of . And Allied troops has reduced the looting problem. The Security umbrella the soldiers have provided has encouraged some somalian refugees to ret irn to their Home villages. Quot Bairoa s population about 80,000 a few months ago appears to let a falling because refugee Camps Are emptying but no recent Bead counts have been taken. While some refugees head to their villages to Start a new life Bairoa still remains a Magnet for the sick and hungry Labiba Mohan cd Abdir Annan 35, who watched five of her children die of starvation arrived a few Days ago after a 3h-Milc trek through the hush with her three surviving children. They were so emaciated they could barely sit up. A we lost All our camels cattle and goats and we cannot cultivate our farm a it is absolutely horrible a she said. A there Are still some people like me remaining there. Some Are dying and some Are walking Here a to How said she spent her meager resources to bring in Nardoza the 3h Miles from Bur a aha to a Hospital in Bairoa run by the humanitarian organization doctors without Borders