Two U.S. Soldiers Stranded in Desert for Seven Days
March 30, 2003
By JUDITH MILLER
WITH THE 75th EXPLOITATION TASK FORCE, Northern Kuwait,
March 30 - Two young American soldiers have been rescued by
marines after being stranded in the southern Iraqi desert
for seven days.
Specialist Jeffrey Klein, 20, and Sgt. Matthew Koppi, 22,
both mechanics with the Army's Third Infantry Division,
were in good spirits, if thirsty, hungry and tired, after
their rescue on Friday, when marines in Chinook helicopters
spotted them dug into trenches in the flat sand.
No one was quite sure today whether or why their unit had
failed to notice their absence or that of an officer's
Humvee.
Asked about the incident, officers at the headquarters of
the coalition's land forces said they were trying to find
out what had happened.
In interviews, the soldiers said they were stranded after
being sent out to tow an officer's Humvee that had broken
down as the division was traveling north toward Baghdad.
When their own truck's clutch failed, one of their unit's
staff sergeants ordered them to stay put, saying he would
send for them as the convoy moved on.
As days passed without rescue, the soldiers dug trenches to
defend their position, alternated night watch, and drew S O
S in the sand. They said they gave away much of their food
to hungry Iraqi civilians who approached their truck.
Sergeant Klein, of Independence, Ky., said suspicious white
vehicles with passengers in Arab dress slowed down to get a
better look, but did not stop. President Saddam Hussein's
fedayeen, whom Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld now
insists be called "regime death squads," have been cruising
the sandy roads of southern Iraq in such vehicles looking
for vulnerable Americans and trying to ensure loyalty to
the government among the populace of the largely Shiite
Muslim towns of southern Iraq.
"Some of those rogue guys may have passed us," Specialist
Klein said. "But when they saw that we were armed and
really dug in, they may have been discouraged."
During the day, Sergeant Koppi, of Asheville, N.C., wrote
poems to his wife, who had their first child 10 days before
his deployment.
It has been weeks since we have spoken,
I know her heart is close to broken,
Defending our
nation isn't always fun,
There are only a few who can get the job done.
It strains
our honor and our lives,
It hurts our children and our wives.
Often the people of
the nation can't see
That we sacrifice so that they may be free.
But ribbons
and medals can't compare
To the love of home waiting there.
Specialist Klein's
wife is four months pregnant with their first child. He
said it took him time to calm her down when he called on a
satellite phone from an airfield in northern Kuwait to
assure her he was safe.
The soldiers were found by an unidentified Marine unit. But
the marines left them at a maintenance shed in a battle
outpost in the desert. They were taken to Camp Udairi in
northern Kuwait by Col. Richard R. McPhee, who commands the
75th Exploitation Task Force, during a mission in southern
Iraq. That unit is hunting for evidence of weapons of mass
destruction.
After a medical checkup, the soldiers were given new
uniforms, a hot meal and a full night of sleep. Meanwhile,
officers sent word to their unit of their rescue, and
sought information about why they had been stranded.
Some soldiers attributed the mishap to the "fog of war."
But others were dumbfounded.
Colonel McPhee said he was hugely impressed with their
resourcefulness and dedication. "When we found them," he
said, "they just kept saying they that wanted to return to
their unit as soon as possible to be part of the battle."
Offering his highest accolade, he said, "Those guys are
warriors."
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company. |
