STORIES FROM THE DESERT

File: 970529_sep96_sagwi1_0008.txt
Page: 0008
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

                On one occasion when I was not with the platoon, they
            were sent to take out a building that pilots said they were
            recieving fire from. The route my platoon got was over 4000m
            long. Still the higher ups told them to carry all their
            equipment- minus the rucks. For a man with an M-16 thats not
            too bad. Tell the same line to a dragon gunner or an M-60
            gunner, and they will think your crazy. I can't forget the
            SAW gunners either. Most of them were carrying 1200 rounds
            at a time.
                The patrol proceeded. Unfortunately, the building turned
            out to be just another phantom.( We called any hey-you mission
            that turned out to be a waste of time phantoms.) On the way
            back to the perimeter the patrol was really dragging. Heavy
            weight, long patrols, and desert sand don't mix.
                A few hundred meters from the berm the RTO got a message
            from the GLID team. He said he had a target on his screen that
            was bigger than anything he had ever seen. He thought it was a
            tank. The patrol ran for the berm expecting to see tanks
            on the horizon. However, when they got to the berm the patrol
            found out the target was an american humvee.






























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