September 2004

September 1, 2004 - Thousands welcome back troops

MIDDLETOWN - The Ohio Army National Guard's 324th Military Police Company was welcomed home today after 15 months in Iraq by nearly 1,000 at the Patrick Kessler Guard Armory.   Another 1,000 lined city streets, waving American flags at the two buses escorted by five police cruisers at the noontime celebration.   "Middletown, you out-did yourself," said Capt. Rudolph Pringle III, unit commander.

The 324th was deployed in February 2003, after some members had served in security details in airports and military installations. The company arrived in the Mideast in May for a one-year tour of duty, which was extended in May.   For the past three months, the soldiers provided convoy security outside Baghdad. They arrived back in the United States on Friday, and demobilized at Camp Atterbury, near Columbus, Ind.

"The last four months were very dangerous, just horrible, horrible," said Liz Marconi, mother of soldier Nick Marconi. She said she had hardly slept since visiting her son, a Middletown police officer, on Saturday at Camp Atterbury.  "It's been so emotional, so hyper," she said. (By John Kiesewetter, Cincinnati Enquirer staff writer)

BUTLERVILLE, Ind. -- A soon-to-close center for the developmentally disabled will become a military facility that one day could teach thousands of soldiers how to fight urban terror, state officials said Wednesday.  The announcement settled long-standing questions over the fate of the Muscatatuck State Developmental Center, a sprawling facility that four decades ago housed more than 2,300 residents. The center, scheduled to close Jan. 1, is now home to just 74 patients.

The military facility would be the first of its kind, said Indiana National Guard Adjutant General Martin Umbarger, and will provide training for chemical and biological attacks in an urban setting that is the equivalent of 10 city blocks.  "History will look back on this day, and . . . it will make us more prepared to defend this state," Umbarger said.

Under the plan announced by Gov. Joe Kernan, the state would transform more than 1,000 acres -- including Muscatatuck and the nearby Brush Creek Reservoir -- into a training center operated by the Indiana National Guard.  Muscatatuck's tunnels, power plant and multistory buildings would allow for a more realistic staging ground than could be provided at Camp Atterbury, Indiana's main military training facility.

As many as 40 Indiana National Guard administrators will be in place by next summer to start adapting Muscatatuck's grounds and 66 buildings for training and testing of equipment. Officials expect troops numbering in the thousands for training missions, Umbarger said.  "There are none like this in the country," he said.  The Guard plans to seek future funding from federal, regional and private agencies as it expands its training schedule.

Umbarger estimated that it will cost about $2.6 million to run the facility in its first year. It would have cost $150 million to build such a facility from scratch, he said.  Officials said Wednesday that Department of Homeland Security brass are unaware of the agreement.  "I have a great deal of confidence that this is going to happen," said U.S. Rep Baron Hill, D-Ind.

In 2001, then-Gov. Frank O'Bannon ordered the center to begin shutting down amid criticism of patient care and a call to move toward smaller, regional care settings.  "We're taking what otherwise would be a liability and turning that liability into an asset for the community," Kernan said, adding that it would cost as much as $40 million to demolish the center.

Employees said they were sad to break ties with residents.  "I really feel sad for a lot of these patients because this is their home," said Cheryl McIntosh, 51, a rehabilitation therapist assistant for 21 years.  Some with children still at the center say its closing was preordained.  "When I first found out Muscatatuck was closing, I said then they had a plan and a mission for this property," said DePauw resident Wanda Fell, whose 25-year-old son, Jason, has been a resident at the center since 1996.  "And today it's yielding itself to be true." (By Jason Thomas, IndyStar.com)

WEST END - There was a high price of admission to the luncheon gathering Thursday of 25 men in a banquet room of the Museum Center at Union Terminal.  

Each of them paid that price some 50 or 60 years ago in North Korean prison cells or Nazi stalags scattered across Europe as American soldiers, airmen and Marines who were prisoners of war.

The reunion lunch is an event the men of the OKI Chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War organization have held once every five years since the organization was formed 25 years ago.

Because all but a handful of the former POWs are men who served in World War II - men now in their upper 70s and 80s - some believe it may be the last reunion. "This could be the last hurrah,'' said Frank Bates of Fairfield Township, who was a young soldier in the 106th Infantry Division, fighting the Battle of the Bulge.

In December 1944, the entire 106th Division was surrounded by two Panzer divisions. Nearly 7,000 American soldiers, including Bates, were forced to surrender to the Nazis.

Today, Bates, a Purple Heart veteran who spent the last five months of the war on forced marches from one temporary prison to another, is commander of the local chapter, which meets once a month. Frank Heekin of Westwood and Ralph Stease of Loveland - both gunners on B-17s that were shot down over Europe - founded the group 25 years ago with another former POW, Joe Warth, who died years ago. Stease said he and the others began the local chapter "because we knew there were guys out there who had been through what we went through, but they were scattered all over the area. "We wanted to get know the other guys,'' Stease said. "It was an experience we can never forget.''

As they gathered for lunch, the men drifted from table to table greeting each other. Ted Burch of Hamilton sat down to a plate of chicken breast on rice. He is a Korean war veteran who was taken prisoner in the fall of 1950. He spent the rest of the war - nearly three years - in prison, where he was beaten and nearly starved by his captors. "For years, I couldn't even look at rice, because that is about all we ate over there,'' Burch said. "But I guess I can eat it now.''

Harry Falck of Sycamore Township, the only other Korea veteran in the organization, sat nearby. He was taken prisoner only a few months before Burch. Like Burch, he spent nearly three years as a POW.  "I was just a dog-face infantryman,'' Falck said. "People say to me now, 'You're a hero.' Well, I'm no hero. What I am is a survivor. We all are.''  (By Howard Wilkinson, Cincinnati Enquirer staff writer)

September 11, 2004 - More Soldiers Deployed on Third Anniversary of 9/11

During the 3rd Anniversary of the terrorist attacks more local soldiers were deployed to fight the war on terror. Soldiers from the 98th army reserve division based here in Rochester will train members of Iraq's defense teams. News 10NBC was at the division headquarters for the send-off. Over 200 Army Reservists from the 98th division from all over the northeast are making their way to Indiana before finally heading to Iraq. The soldiers News 10NBC spoke to say leaving on September 11th makes their mission more worthwhile. Major General Bruce Robinson is giving words of encouragement, not only to his soldiers, but also their families.  The unit will spend at least a year overseas, working one-on-one with numerous Iraqi agencies. All the soldiers who left are making their way to Camp Atterbury in Indiana.  They will stay for about two weeks before finally heading to Iraq.  Up to 700 soldiers from the entire 98th division may be heading overseas by the end of the year.  Out of those 700 hundred, 150 may be coming in from this unit in Rochester. (www.10nbc.com)

September 14, 2004 - GARY, Ind. -- About 500 Indiana National Guard members will be mobilized in October to support the U.S. military's ongoing operations in Iraq, guard officials said.

Guard spokeswoman Capt. Lisa Kopczynski said the Gary-based 113th Engineer Battalion has been activated and will deploy in early October to Camp Atterbury south of Indianapolis. There, the battalion members will be processed, including medical and physical checks, and equipment tests.

It will take at least a month for the guardsmen to be ready for deployment overseas, Kopczynski said. Their deployment, including time spent at Camp Atterbury, may last up to 18 months.  Although the unit is being mobilized in connection with Iraq operations, Kopczynski could not say whether the guardsmen would be sent to Iraq.

"The entire battalion is being called into active duty and that's about 500 people," she said today. "We can't discuss any of the security issues, but the mission will be to support Operation Iraqi Freedom."

To bring the 113th Engineer Battalion up to full strength, 64 of a Hammond-based unit's 90 guardsmen are being activated and transferred to the 113th, said Lt. Roberto Gonzalez, the unit's commander.  He said the affected members of his unit have been told to expect that they will be in Iraq no later than January.  The company has been trained to clear minefields, lay minefields, construct perimeter defenses and dig foxholes, Gonzalez said.

September 20, 2004 - 938th MP unit training for deployment

Michigan City, IN - More Michiana soldiers are headed to Iraq. The 938th Military Police detachment received mobilization orders this week. On Sunday they were in Michigan City training for deployment. 
There are about 45 members of the 938th Military Police detachment of the United States Army National Guard and many of them are from the Michiana.

They say they already knew deployment to Iraq was only a matter of time. Now their time has come.  Guard members are dealing with dozens of emotions as they tackle several tests. Each exercise teaches them to be prepared in case of danger. The skills they learn here in the states make the difference between life and death in Iraq.

Spc. Travis Parrish of Goshen says, “Being scared that comes naturally because if you have to toss a grenade or you have to shoot somebody so either yourself or your fellow soldiers can come home. That's what needs to be done.”  These exercises train them to do what needs to be done and with precision.

“We have to be able to throw the hand grenade within a distance of 5 meters to our target,” said Major Judy Stephenson of South Bend.  There are several other training exercises involved including land navigation, nuclear biological and chemical warfare and weapons qualification's courses that the soldiers have to go through.

The soldiers have been mentally preparing for this for months. Capt. Jeff Piotrowskis says, “There's roughly 11,000 soldiers in the state of Indiana and about 8,000 have already been deployed or are being deployed so we knew it was coming.”  The soldiers will report to Camp Atterbury in November for more training and then deploy to Iraq some time after that.  They expect to remain overseas for 18 months. (by NewsCenter16 Reporter, Michelle Relerford)

September 26, 2004 - Explosives found in store.  Bomb squad removes box from thrift store.