THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270406
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
They don't know exactly where, and they don't know exactly when, but as many as 1,000 members of the 7th Transportation Group may join the United States' relief effort in Rwanda.
``We were told to be prepared to go in and do things that only the 7th can do, so we're getting everybody ready,'' said Col. Dan Labin, commander of the group, based at Fort Eustis.
A major problem with the massive Rwandan relief effort mounted by the United States is delivering and unloading supplies at the tiny airport in Goma, Zaire, a town near the Rwandan border where refugees are dying of cholera by the hundreds. Fresh water is their No. 1 need.
Among the capabilities of the 7th Transportation Group is setting up and operating large-scale terminals for unloading equipment and supplies. The group's troops last carried out that role in Mogadishu, Somalia, where their duties included operation of the seaport during the U.N. mission to deliver aid to the starving population and stop fighting among warring clans.
``One of the things that we've been called on to do in the past is arrival-departure airfield ground operations,'' Labin said. ``It's quite possible that we'll be asked to perform that task in this effort.''
If the group joins the relief effort, Labin said, it will provide a water-purification system to decontaminate drinking water.
Almost 1,000 soldiers are getting their medical and financial records straight to make the trip. About 650 were processed Tuesday, and 300 more are expected to be processed today.
Some of them served in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf war and on the docks in Mogadishu.
``I'm ready to go . . . but then I'm always ready to go,'' Sgt. Joe Hayslett of Franklin said with a laugh shortly after receiving one of three shots needed for the trip. ``I'm guessing it'll be pretty much like Somalia but with better living conditions.''
Other soldiers said they didn't mind going but hoped to return soon. Sgt. Rochelle Smith is a single mother and has to make special arrangements for child care for her 8-year-old son while she is away.
``As long as we get over there, knock it out and come on back in a hurry, I'll be fine,'' Smith said. ``I'd like to spend Christmas at home, and actually I wouldn't mind having Thanksgiving dinner with my family, either.''
Labin said he doesn't know the group's specific assignment or how long his troops will be gone.
``We don't have official word that we're going,'' he said. ``We're just getting ready.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
A soldier at Fort Eustis is tested for tuberculosis Tuesday in
preparation for duty in Rwanda. Behind, Sgt. Joe Hayslett of
Franklin takes a dose of oral polio vaccine Tuesday. ``I'm ready to
go . . . but then I'm always ready to go,'' Hayslett said.
KEYWORDS: RWANDA AFRICA RELIEF by CNB