
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 5, 1993                   TAG: 9310050214
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SISTER OF PILOT TAKES SOMALIA FIGHT TO TOP

Janice Brackenrich, a Giles County resident whose brother came close last month to becoming a casualty of the mission in Somalia, has joined the call to bring U.S. forces home from the East African country.

Brackenrich met with representatives of two U.S. senators in Washington last week to urge movement on pulling troops out of Somalia.

Brackenrich's brother - G. Dale Shrader, a U.S. Army warrant officer - was piloting a Blackhawk helicopter that was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade over Mogadishu, Somalia two weeks ago. Shrader and his co-pilot escaped amid the fire and explosion. Three crewmen were killed.

The attack had been called the bloodiest involving U.S. forces until Monday's fighting in Mogadishu, where at least 12 Americans were reported killed and 75 wounded.

"It angers me," Brackenrich said. "I'm hoping after these families grieve, they will be as angry as I am. We're fighting them [Somalis] instead of feeding them."

In Washington, Brackenrich met with representatives of Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas, and Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla.

Dole's representatives told Brackenrich that Dole was pushing for redefining the goals of the mission in Somalia, she said. Mack's representatives said the senator had opposed the initial deployment of troops and was campaigning strongly for their immediate withdrawal, she said.

Brackenrich does not intend for her efforts to end now that she is back home. Since her brother's ordeal was publicized, her phone has rung constantly with calls from people wanting to know what they can do, she said.

"I will continue writing and calling anyone and everyone who we know who will write to their representatives," she said. By allowing troops "to stay in Somalia, some of the senators and congressmen are actually cutting their own throats. It's things like this that lose people elections."

Shrader, who suffered a broken wrist and second- and third-degree burns on his arm, back and face, had skin-graft surgery in Texas on Monday, Brackenrich said. He is in pain not only because of his injuries but because of the three crewmen who were killed and the co-pilot who was "burned extremely badly," she said.

"It makes the healing process worse," Brackenrich said. "If something could come of this pain he's suffering, I feel he would feel better about this. It would almost be like it wasn't in vain."

by CNB