STORIES FROM THE DESERT

File: 970529_sep96_sagwi1_0006.txt
Page: 0006
Total Pages: 9
Subject = STORIES FROM THE DESERT                                         

Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS 

Unit = 101ST ID    

Folder Title = ANNODOTES OF THE WAR                                                                            

Document Number =          2

Box ID = BX001611






             Spc. Stuart Suchland
             C. Co. 1/187th INF
             798-6701

                 The 187th had the opportunity to take a large number of
             prisoners in Iraq before the ground war actually started.
             We took about a Bat. worth of prisoners about the middle of
             February. The mission took two days. Most of the prisoners
             were taken by Bravo company. This mission was the first actual
             air assault any of us had ever done.
                 Everything was on short notice. One evening our company
             was told to support Bravo and we moved on it. The leaders
             passed out our extra ordinance, like grenades and AT-4s, and
             then we loaded up on Chinook helicopters.
                 Ft. Campbell regulations say you can only have 31
             soldiers on a CH-47 so we looked at the Co. a little funny
             when he said 60 men to a bird. I didn't think it could be
             done. We did it, though, and in typical Army fashion. We
             all squeezed in in neat little rows and took off. It took
             awhile but we all got in there.
                 The flight to the objective was uneventful except for
             when the crew chief test fired his M-60S. Some people didn't
             get the word on that one, and it took a few of us by surprise.
                 Now, if you can imagine the anxiety of soldiers going to
             war for the first time it makes what happened even funnier.
             The pilots started giving us ETA checks. At about one minute
             out we were dying to get off that bird. Finally, we sat down
             pretty hard and the door lowered. Soldiers started jumping
             out of the bird not realizing how broken the ground was.
             Despite the ground, we were off the bird in a heartbeat. I
             can remember running just trying to keep my balance. I
             finally plopped down behind a boulder. We had not been there
             30 seconds when an explosion went off to our front. We didn't
             know who set it off or what it was, but instantly the Co.
             was frantically yelling for us to get back on the bird. We
             started flying for the chopper. All those neat little rows
             went right out the window. I have never seen that many
             people move that quick or load that fast ever again.
                 Whether the explosion was ours or theirs I don't know.
             Ironically, the CH-47 shut its engines off and we sat there
             fearing the worst for the better part of a half an hour.














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