Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 27, 1991 TAG: 9102270345
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: A U.S. AIR BASE IN EASTERN SAUDI ARABIA LENGTH: Medium
Capt. Eric "Fish" Salomonson, 28, of Berthoud, Colo., and 1st Lt. John "Karl" Marks, 26, of Kansas City, Kan., said each hit four tanks of the elite Republican Guard on Monday deep inside southern Iraq.
On two more missions near Kuwait City later that day, Marks destroyed eight tanks and Salomonson seven. They fly A-10 Thunderbolt II Warthog tank-killer aircraft.
"We've been looking for tanks since the war started," Salomonson said. "Yesterday we found a bunch."
Marks added: "It was exactly what we had hoped, that the Army advance would do exactly what it did - that is, force the Republican Guards out of their prepared positions, out in the open and onto the roads."
Lt. Col. Gene Renuart, 41, of Miami, commander of the 76th Tactical Fighter Squadron, said the pair "had an extraordinary day" and their performance was "quite exceptional."
He and other officers at the air base said they had not been keeping a tally of which pilot team destroyed the most tanks, but that 23 was so high it easily was the most in a single day during the war.
Salomonson and Marks were on standby Monday morning to provide close air support for advancing allied ground forces.
"We had a report from a night squadron that they had discovered a lot of Iraqi tanks on the move," said Salomonson, the flight leader. "We launched out of here, didn't quite know what we were going to see, so we got up there about sunup, and sure enough, there's tanks all over.
"We found them . . . and had tanks burning in five minutes."
Both pilots said they didn't know whether there were soldiers in the tanks, but that they saw none on the ground nearby.
by CNB