Community commemorates 20th anniversary of Scud missile attack

GREENSBURG, Pa. Aca,!" Six days passed into their deployment when suddenly the 14th Quartermaster Detachment faced disaster. Twenty more years have passed since then, as family members and surviving soldiers continue to heal from that dayAca,!a,,cs wounds.

Aca,!A"I talked to one of the soldiers last night on the phone and we canAca,!a,,ct believe itAca,!a,,cs been 20 years already. It really doesnAca,!a,,ct seem like that. Time flies,Aca,!A? said Master Sgt. Terry Davis Jr., former 14th QM Det., non-commissioned officer in charge during the time of the attack.

Davis, of Ligonier, Pa., was one of several hundred people who attended the 20th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony held in Greensburg, Pa., to commemorate the devastating scud missile attack that took 13 lives and wounded 43 soldiers from his former unit in 1991.

The 14th QM Det., an Army Reserve water purification unit, had spent only six days in Saudi Arabia when the attack killed and wounded 81 percent of the unit, plus many others from the 475th Quartermaster Group and 477th Transportation Company. The soldiers were staying in a warehouse converted into a temporary barracks at the time.

Twenty years later, it was snowflakes that fell from the sky while survivors from the attack and family members placed roses, teddy bears and hand-written notes upon the monument dedicated to the 13 who passed away.

This community of people has been coming together every year on Feb. 25 since the attack tore the unit apart in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it is the Greensburg community who donated the money to build the monument, not government funding.

Aca,!A"Any time we gather, itAca,!a,,cs a way of saying thanks. And quite frankly, itAca,!a,,cs a way of helping the families who have survived to heal. They carry with them huge wounds for the lost ones. It helps them to know that we still care a great deal for them,Aca,!A? said U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy, of Upper St. Clair, Pa.

Murphy said gathering together to remember the past may bring back raw and painful memories for the soldiers and families who were victimized by the attack. But he noted that itAca,!a,,cs in coming together as a community that people can help bear one anotherAca,!a,,cs burden of sadness.

Aca,!A"I think itAca,!a,,cs the way we relate to the nation,Aca,!A? agreed Brig. Gen. Peter S. Lennon, commanding general of the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, referring to the commemoration ceremony.

He emphasized that these types of ceremonies serve to bring Soldiers closer to their communities.

Aca,!A"If weAca,!a,,cre off in anonymity one weekend a month and two weeks a year, well then we havenAca,!a,,ct made that connectionAca,!A? he said.

ItAca,!a,,cs this connection between soldiers and community that makes them so special in todayAca,!a,,cs Army, he said.

As people shared stories with one another both before and after the ceremony, one common thread in their discussion was the importance of remembering the attack as part of their nationAca,!a,,cs history.

Aca,!A"ItAca,!a,,cs what history is all about. You have to remember,Aca,!A? said Dorothy Benyacko Carbisiero, unit administrator for the 14th QM Det. Aca,!A"A lot of soldiers have not experienced mobilization, and they need to know the realities of itAca,!A| ItAca,!a,,cs something they could potentially experience and should know the risks involved.Aca,!A?

For Davis, remembering the attack means learning from the lessons of the past. It is because of these tragedies that soldier training improves and survival is emphasized even more.

As he spoke, he made a distinction between teaching a soldier to survive in combat and teaching him to fill out a casualty evaluation form.

Aca,!A"I either train you to survive, or I fill out a form and write a letter home,Aca,!A? said Davis, who served as the first sergeant to the 14th QM Det. during the attack.

For those Soldiers who did survive, it was healing they had to learn next. For Davis, his largest wound was knowing he had been put in charge of a unit and the missile had destroyed his ability to keep those soldiers safe. He said it took him five years before he talked to a family that had lost a son in the attack.

For other soldiers like Stacey King, of Harrisburg, Pa., it took months and months of medical care before their bodies recovered from the physical wounds. King spent about a year at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to recover from shrapnel injuries to her leg and nerve damage to her hands.

Aca,!A"Today IAca,!a,,cm here because I wanted to show support to the families,Aca,!A? she said.

She has attended several other anniversary ceremonies in the past, but she said it felt especially important to come to this one, marking 20 years. She said itAca,!a,,cs a reminder to the community and the attendants of the family bond created among service members.

Aca,!A"ItAca,!a,,cs not a rehashing. ItAca,!a,,cs an honor and a privilege to me to be able to come and spend time and remember what they did for the community and the country. They shed their lives in Saudi Arabia and this community pulled together, and thatAca,!a,,cs the reason the monument is out there,Aca,!A? Davis said.