Stone In A Sling: A Soldier's Journey by Scott Meehan

Author:Scott Meehan [Meehan, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-12-25T08:00:00+00:00

110. Kibrit Enemy Prisoner of War (EPW) Camp

Saudi Arabian Desert

March 1991 The mass of war-torn Iraqi prisoners huddled together around several small campfires behind the wired fence. Approximately fourthousand of them were holding army-issued green wool blankets over their shoulders as they tried desperately to stay dry and warm. Staring wide-eyed in fear, the whites of their eyes contrasted with the oil-smoked, gloomy, and darkened sky that turned day into night.

The unnatural darkness crept in, blotting out the sun, courtesy of one of the most hideous attacks on nature ever witnessed. When Saddam’s forces realized that defeat was imminent, they marked their retreat by setting ablaze the Kuwaiti oil fields in a final act of defiance.

“I guess if he can’t have them, nobody can,” I overheard one of the Marine guards say. The guard was one of approximately sixty armed Marines along with a Military Police National Guard unit from Puerto Rico consisting of approximately one hundred soldiers from the 89th Military Police Brigade. We were vastly outnumbered by the prisoners.

One afternoon, the Iraqi prisoners came in a caravan of flatbed cattle trucks with attached flatbed trailers. They were packed together like sheep going to slaughter. The fourth largest army in the world, prior to Desert Storm, looked shattered. I was leaving the EPW camp for the night and heading back to the marine base camp.

“Stop here a minute,” I instructed my driver, Staff Sergeant Schmidt. “I want to count them.”

Staff Sergeant Schmidt pulled up to the first truck in line trying to get into Kibrit. Both of us began to count the bewildered, demoralized men.

“I count sixty,” I said.

“Both in the truck and trailer?” Staff Sergeant Schmidt asked.

“Both.”

‘Yes, sir, that’s about right.”

“Drive down the road. Let’s see how many

trucks there are.” Staff Sergeant Schmidt drove slowly past the trucks leading into the EPW camp and down Tap Line Road heading northwest. I began counting again—this time the number of trucks pulling trailers.

“My God, there are sixty trucks, all with trailers, packed with at least the same amount. That means there are at least thirty-six hundred prisoners!”

“At least they’re unarmed,” Staff Sergeant Schmidt added.

I thought of the verse in Matthew 9— “Jesus had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

The coalition bombing against the Iraqi army, comprised mostly of B-52s, had certainly taken its toll. I remembered one morning as a thunderous roar erupted in the background. Major Gerbleck smiled as the ground around us shook and said, “Ahh, the sounds of freedom.” We all knew that the war was going much quicker than anyone had anticipated, and, at the current speed, we would be going home much sooner, too.

One of the verses from Psalm stated that, A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Feeling that this was quite literally the time to hold onto such words, I quoted it so that Major Gerbleck could hear me.

“That’s good, LT,” Major Gerbleck responded.

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