ASSOCIATED PRESS
A U.S. Cobra helicopter fires a missile at Iraqi positions near the Kuwaiti border today.
Families of Valarie Hammock, 33, has two children, a job in a children's clothing store and a husband of 12 years named David who is serving on a nuclear submarine that was deployed within the past few months from Pearl Harbor to the Persian Gulf region.
deployed military
endure a tense wait
By Sally Apgar
sapgar@starbulletin.com
Hammock expected war with Iraq, but nonetheless, when she heard the news reports Wednesday night that bombs were falling on Baghdad, she "just went numb."
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Hammock said yesterday: "You almost have to go numb to get through. If you think about it, you won't be able to function. You have to keep your mind busy."
Hammock said her two children, ages 10 and 12, "have good days and bad days. On bad days they stick really close to me. They become 'Cling-ons' -- they want to snuggle and just stay really close."
Hammock and other military spouses from Pearl Harbor to Kaneohe are each summoning their own coping strategies to deal with loved ones fighting a high-tech war on the other side of the world.
Hammock said she waits for her husband's return "just taking it minute by minute and day by day, because that's all you can do."
Ruby Hildreth, 29, is waiting with her 2-year-old son, AJ, for the return of her husband, Ian, who is a lieutenant on the USS Columbia, a nuclear submarine that was deployed in 2002.
Hildreth and AJ like to put together "care packages" for Ian with "little things from home" that usually contain boxes of Mike & Ike's, his favorite candy, pictures AJ has drawn and videos of AJ playing. When Ian left, he carefully packed several wedding pictures, along with photos of himself hunting Easter eggs with AJ and throwing a football with him.
Jumping on the bench next to his mother at a fast-food restaurant yesterday, blond-haired AJ grinned through shiny baby teeth and squealed: "My dad on submarine. He working."
Hildreth hugged AJ and explained how they get by.
"You just keep going. I teach at a Christian preschool and spend time with AJ. And really, the wives hold each other together. We have lunch and play groups with the kids, and we just try to keep each other going."
When war started Wednesday night, Hildreth's immediate reaction was to get on her computer and figure out where his last location was in relation to the military action. Then she e-mailed him "to tell him that we're OK and not to worry about us, but to come back home safely."
Hildreth said they keep in touch through e-mail. The problem is that when the submarine is submerged, e-mail is blocked and she can wait for days for an answer without knowing what is happening.
Denise Draa, 38, who served in the first Gulf War, is no longer on active duty, but waiting for her husband of four years, Michael, a petty officer on the Pearl Harbor-based frigate USS Reuben James. When he was deployed about six months ago, Michael Draa took family photographs and his worn Bible.
"I was on active duty in the Gulf War. It's frightening. But I know he's there to do a job and that he will come home," said Draa, adding: "Our faith keeps us going. If we didn't have that, I don't know what we would do."
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit gave an Iraqi soldier water in southern Iraq today.
BAGHDAD BLITZED U.S.-led forces unleashed a mighty air assault on Baghdad today, commencing their promised campaign of "shock and awe" after ground troops captured a key port city, two airports and hundreds of surrendering Iraqi prisoners.
By David Crary
Associated PressThe sounds of massive explosions rattled the capital city for the third time in two days. Fire, smoke and red tracers lit up the night sky.
As part of the attack, the U.S. Navy launched about 320 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Iraq from ships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, senior officers said.
Officials in Washington said the ferocity of their "shock and awe" campaign depends on the success of ongoing U.S. surrender talks with top Iraqi officials.
U.S. forces took the town of Safwan and many prisoners.
"Man, I've been in country two hours, and already I've got two wounded and a truckload of prisoners," said one Marine, standing guard in the town.
About 12 miles southeast, U.S. Marines captured the main Iraqi port of Umm Qasr after a night of heavy shelling. The Iraqis were overmatched by U.S. firepower, battling back with small arms, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Many surrendered without fighting.
"Umm Qasr has been overwhelmed by the U.S. Marines and now is in coalition hands," said Adm. Michael Boyce, chief of the British defense staff.
British forces were dealing with "significant numbers" of Iraqi troops who had surrendered, Boyce said.
Umm Qasr, located along the Kuwait border, gives U.S. and British forces access to a port for military and humanitarian supplies and hastens the end of Iraqi resistance in the south.
In Safwan, Iraqi troops even tried to surrender to Western journalists; elsewhere, more than 40 surrendered to a Marine unit directing traffic.
"I think they're just glad to be out of the fight," said Lt. Col. Robert Abbott of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Reporters with combat and support units said they were moving faster than the schedule given to them by U.S. military commanders during confidential briefings before ground operations began.
Meanwhile, units of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division were speeding northward through the desert west of the Euphrates River, avoiding densely populated areas.
That strategy enables the American forces to charge quickly to Baghdad without getting bogged down in populated areas where they would run the risk of civilian casualties.
In western Iraq, U.S. forces seized two airfields, a pivotal first step toward opening up another front in the war.
The allies reported their first two combat casualties. Both were U.S. Marines with the 1st Expeditionary Force.
According to a comrade, one Marine was shot in the stomach while his company was sweeping around a burning pumping station in an oil field. The other died while fighting near Umm Qasr.
Twelve more Marines -- eight British and four American -- died when their helicopter crashed and burned in Kuwait. Officials said the crash was not caused by hostile fire.
French President Jacques Chirac, who adamantly opposed the war on Iraq, said today his country would not support a new United Nations resolution allowing the United States and Britain to administer postwar Iraq.
"That would justify the war after the event," Chirac said.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahhaf said one of Saddam's homes was hit in an earlier strike on Baghdad, but no one was hurt.
U.S. officials said they had no definitive word on whether the Iraqi leader was caught in the attack, but said medical workers were summoned to a compound after it was hit.
The official Iraqi News Agency said 37 people were injured in the latest strikes on Baghdad, and Iraqi military said four soldiers were killed. There were no figures given on Iraqi losses in ground combat.
U.S. and British forces moved on a broad front, with infantry racing across the desert in thousands of tanks and trucks, and Marines edging toward strategic oil towns and military outposts, calling in air support to take out snipers.
"There are signs of continuing Iraqi desertions and disagreement and division in all levels of the regime," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
U.S. Marines seized a portion of the main road leading from Kuwait to Basra, suppressing resistance from Iraqi mortars and arms.
Officers said the seizure could help speed the takeover of Basra, southern Iraq's largest city.
Resistance to the allies was limited. Within a few hours of crossing into southern Iraq, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit encountered 200 or more Iraqi troops seeking to surrender.
One group of 40 Iraqis marched down a road toward the Americans and gave up.
Members of one Marine platoon, while capturing scores of Iraqi soldiers, tossed hand grenades into bunkers and mud huts to clear them out.
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Deployed Marines unwind in 'Waikiki'
More than 200 Kaneohe Marines -- all members of the 1st Radio Battalion -- were sent to Kuwait on Feb. 9. There, Lt. Col. Mark Aycock, commanding officer, has dubbed his headquarters tent at Camp Commando as "Camp Hale Koa" and each day flies the Hawaiian flag.Lt. Jeffery Han, the battalion's chaplain, has named his tent "Stairway to Heaven," and the morale, welfare and recreation tent is affectionately known as "Waikiki" since Marines use this tent to unwind and relax after a hard day's work, Aycock said in a statement released by Kaneohe officials.
Lance Cpl. Victor Avalos, the battalion's supply administrative clerk, writes, "My faith in God and the few brief morale calls and e-mails to my wife and son allow me to stay focused on my mission and continue to support my unit in any way possible."
In an e-mail sent to family members in Hawaii, Aycock wrote: "You can be proud of your Marine or sailor. They have done a fantastic job of establishing our camp and making the battalion operational in a very short period of time. No challenge seems to be too tough."
Supporters encourage troops via Web sites
"You are in our prayers. Stay strong. Pray hard. Fight well. Come home."That message, signed "Dawndra," is typical of the notes left for American troops on several Web sites where visitors are voicing their support.
Some sites are sponsored by the military; others are maintained by citizens who simply felt a need to reach out to the soldiers.
The sentiments are deeply appreciated by the military, said Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Cox at the coalition press information center in Kuwait City.
"Any expression of support these folks can digest or be exposed to is very good," Cox said. "Sometimes that is their only form of communication, with the possible exception of members of their immediate family."
Here are details about several of the sites:
>> anyservicemember.org (Click on "Home" in lower right corner.) -- Send a message to members of the Marines, Navy, Army, Air Force or Coast Guard. Site run by a veteran.>> anyservicemember.navy.mil -- Joint effort of advice columnist Dear Abby, the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy.
>> www.emailourmilitary.com -- A volunteer site to "provide encouragement, motivation and moral support" to the military. Register online to send messages.
>> www.salts.navy.mil/main/troops -- Send notes to sailors and Marines aboard ships. A service of the Naval Inventory Control Point, which provides Navy program and supply support.
>> www.army.mil./usar/expresssupporthere.html -- Electronic message board for Army reservists to view; send notes to specific or anonymous troops. Sponsored by the Army Reserve.
>> www.scrappleface.com (Click on "Encourage Our Troops" at right.) -- Leave messages for troops to view on a personal Web log.
>> www.estripes.com -- Scroll down to "Messages of Support" on left side of page to leave messages at Stars & Stripes, the daily newspaper delivered to troops overseas. Notes run in the paper as well as on its Web site.
Staff and news services
Hawaii military links and information
