European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 03, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes crisis in Rwanda wednesday August 3,1994 w line dogs7 Strain Leash to take off for Zaire by Vince Crawley staff writer Rhein main a Germany spec. James Lutz an army Carpenter sat in a ramshackle air base Barracks writing a letter to a Friend in Kenya to say that he is going Back to Africa. R maybe. I m really anxious to go said Lutz 34, from Houston. It s really disappoint ing to sit around and know people Are dying and you re not Able to  in the hurry up and wait of military life Lutz and other members of cob 94th combat heavy engr in were Noti fied july 26 that they were going to the rwandan refugee crisis. They pushed themselves at a Breakneck Pace deploy ing from Vilseck Germany to the staging area at Rhein main by thursday. They be been waiting there Ever since., it deflates you said spec James Perron 21, from Lake Charles la. Let me go. I want to go to  Lutz and Perron belong to co b s line platoon the carpenters plumbers masons and electricians As opposed to the construction equipment operators. They Call themselves line  one group of engineers traipsed Down to the passenger terminal 15 times and was bumped from 15 flights including four bumps saturday night. One flight that did make it out with heavy construction equipment ended up diverting with plane trouble to Italy. As of tuesday afternoon the line dogs were hoping to get out tuesday night maybe this morning. Perron does t blame anyone from his battalion for the waiting. He said he knows that priorities change that water is Allim portent in the disaster area of Gama Zaire and that everything else is secon Lary. My wife cried. She was sad she was upset Perron said of the deployment. She also agrees that these people need help. She started telling me to so proud. You re going to help these people pfc. Steven Kelly agreed. "we4re Gonna go Down and hopefully do some Good for these people said the 21 year old from Hopewell a. While they wait the line dogs joke about getting personal Calls from it. Gen. Jerry r. Rutherford the v corps commander. They joke about their 9 / hour Convoy front Vilseck. They joke about getting bumped and bumped again from flights to Africa they joke about each others names and hometowns and about what will Hap pen when their wives find out they got buzzed or cram As a defense against . They Don t joke about Rwanda " onto a Tow a  pfc. Steven Kelly from left spec. James Perron and sgt. Frederick Queen wait tuesday at Rhein main a fora flight to Goma. . Troops due to Fly from Aviano to Kigali  Northern Italy Bureau Aviano a Italy after nearly a we Klong delay 104  soldiers from Italy were expected to Fly Early this morning from Aviano a to Kigali Rwanda the troops All members of the Southern european task forces inf brigade at Vicenza flew into Aviano on tuesday afternoon aboard three . Army ch-47 Chinook helicopters and were expected to depart Aviano around 2 this morning aboard several us air Force c-141 Star lifters according to col. James r. Mcdonough the brigade commander. Mcdonough explained that he was leaving with a pared Down Force be cause he could not exceed a limit of 200 total military personnel set As the ceiling for All . Forces in Rwanda with the Aid Mission. I be had to be very scrupulous about the numbers and had to go name by name Over the list to decide who could go Mcdonough said. The commander said More of his troops Are expected to depart from Aviano for Entebbe Uganda within the next few Days. The Mission of the Kigali bound Force As outlined by Mcdonough is to put the Airfield in the capital into an efficient around the clock operation and to build up a logistics Center there to allow supplies to flow freely to Refu gees. " the Force Mcdonough said will also provide some Security for operations going on within Rwanda. Another Small Force from setae arrived in Entebbe last week and has. Been at work in support of the Aid Effort. Met troops understand the Way the airflow has gone to get equipment and people into the Region that could save lives immediately Mcdonough said. When they first heard they were going to Goma they were told they might be on a i burial detail for the tens of thousands who have died from cholera and dysentery. You can look at can and watch All the news Perron said. But you can t prepare yourself for  the engineers say they have since been promised by higher Headquarters that they won t handle dead bodies. I have mixed feelings said sgt. Fred Crick Queen 34, from Columbia . I know we re going Down there for a reason to help an african nation. But i Don t want to be pulled away from my  in a mixed up modern world engineers from the 94th in ire used to being on the Road. The unit has people in Macedonia and electricians in former Czechoslovakia rewiring a Hospital. One Soldier said he just came Back from being in the presidential Honor guard in Berlin. Several of those deploying returned from six months in former Yugoslavia at he end of june Lutz the Carpenter from Houston has also been to Africa before but not with the military. During March and april he spent five weeks with the Masai tribe in Kenya build ing a shed and running a 500-Yard water line from a Mountain Spring. The Onty Way they had of getting water before was to walk up the Mountain Lutz explained. It was a Volunteer project with a military Community ministry group called club beyond and Lutz was among 22 adults and 115 american students from bases a Lacross Europe. The rwandan civil War broke out while. The group was in Kenya this Spring Lutz s Aid so Many of the students parents were calling to make sure everyone was Safe. On tuesday he Wasj  line dogs Barracks room waiting to return to Africa. When we deployed we were under the understanding that we were needed last week Lut said. Now we re supposed to be second priority. The first priority is water Purifica Tion and distribution he said. Under the circumstances it s understandable. That s one of the main things killing them contaminated water but he said we wish we were working or Back Home with our families. When you re working your mind s  deployed troops gets a but an May be delayed y _. �"\c1�t�1 w a Var tit.  _. _ _-. _ by Joseph Owen Heidelberg Bureau . Troops deployed in South Central Africa Don t have any Assurance yet that they will be listening to Mil itary radio broadcasts soon. Deployment of broadcasting equipment would re quire that american forces information service first Send an assessment team to the Region but that has t happened yet,.said army capt. Kenneth r. Mcdorman spokesman for the european based american forces network. Meanwhile shipments of the stars and stripes newspapers to . Forces in Uganda and Zaire have grown from 300 to 850 copies daily said Dale Estes the newspaper s operations director. The . European come is funding part of the newspaper deliveries which were arranged through an army contracting office in Vicenza Italy. Estes said he expects the number of the stars and stripes newspapers circulated there to continue increasing gradually As the operation support Hope troop deployment be comes larger. An operation support Hope planning unit has re Quested satellite receiving equipment for radio Broad casts at two a designated locations in Africa Mcdorman said. Also,"5th signal come based in Worms Germany has obtained radio broadcasting frequency clearances from National government officials in Africa and is or Dering commercial Telephone circuits according to Wil Liam e. Triplett a signal command spokesman. Beyond that More hurdles remain before radio serv ice can begin. Nothing s been approved yet. It s All up in the air Mcdorman said. Indeed one problem May be getting the equipment up m the air. The task Force s emphasis on shipping re Lief supplies to end the rwandan refugee crisis Means afis May have trouble finding an air plane that is Avail Able to carry its equipment to Africa. If apis eventually approves sending the satellite receiving equipment there is no certainty that broadcast ers who deploy to the Region would come from Europe Mcdorman said. But an personnel Are packed up and ready to go for assessment team duty he said. C f