Word: soldiers
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...time, on June 8, Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady was sitting, as he had for six days, cold, hungry, hunted and alone in the hills of a strange country. Then he made contact with a U.S. plane. By 7:30 he was onboard the U.S.S. Kearsarge, a missing soldier now safely back among his comrades. All the tremendous resources available to the U.S. military-from spy satellites to the Marines-had been marshaled for the purpose of rescuing O'Grady, and they had been deployed with flawless coordination...
...country and organization involved, particularly if they left hostages behind. A second option would involve NATO's getting tougher with the genocidal, hostage-taking Serbs, but that might lead down a path of commitment for which no Western government has the stomach. Or NATO and the U.N. could simply soldier on, hoping for a diplomatic settlement but perhaps only buying some time until the next crisis...
...Unprofessional" is the euphemism that peacekeepers resort to when they want to say something negative about their mission. Every soldier, from private to commander, is forbidden to offer his opinions to journalists. But the troops have many reasons for frustration. The Bosnian Serbs torment them, humiliate them, take them hostage. Meanwhile, the Bosnian Muslims revile them for standing by when women and children are shot. They must stand by, however, since as impartial "peacekeepers" they are forbidden to take sides...
...views of another French soldier, Stephane Itric, 21, are less qualified. The stocky chief corporal is convinced of the value of the U.N. mission and will sign up again after his six-month tour ends. "If we left, nobody would take care of [the civilians]," he says. He has been stationed at the airport, but is happy that he will soon be assigned to a nearby suburb, where he will have more contact with the locals. Since his father is from Croatia, Itric knows some Serbo-Croatian and can communicate with them. "I saw this country three years ago, peaceful...
When I was seven years old, I fled from a town near Prague with my mother, sisters and brothers. My eldest brother, just 15, was left behind to be a soldier in Hitler's army, like my father. During our escape to the West, I was almost left behind during a rest stop. I had to run to catch the truck. On our 14-day journey to Cologne, a black American soldier gave us a bar of chocolate; it was sweeter than anything I have ever had in my life. My father and brother were captured by the Soviets...