Our warriors know what they’re up against. I hooked up with the Third Platoon of Company B, Fourth Battalion, 12th Infantry, which will move out in mid-December. When I asked them if they were “good to go,” all 23 voices shouted, “Hoo ah!"-the equivalent of a paratroop-er’s “Airborne!” or a marine’s “Semper fi!” But like all soldiers going into a potential killing field, they’re concerned about the unknown. “Our biggest worry is the mines,” says Sgt. Darrell McCoy. The Third Platoon has been well trained to handle those widow-makers. But that doesn’t make the “gnawing feeling go away,” confides Sgt. Robert Crosbie. “We’re a mech unit, and our Bradleys are vulnerable” to land mines, which can pierce the thin armor like a sledgehammer going through a watermelon.
The division looked formidable as it awaited the commander in chief. At attention, the soldiers stood like tall rows of corn when the 21-gun salute sounded. Clinton spoke for 22 minutes. The troops especially liked hearing about the rules of engagement. “If you are threatened with attack,” the president said, “you may respond immediately–and with decisive force.”
But after Clinton took off, a certain gloom set in. One soldier complained that the visit was “a pain in the ass” because it mined his Saturday, normally a day off. Some griped about spending Christmas in Bosnia. Others felt the president’s address reduced them to props: “His talk seemed more designed to motivate the American public than us,” groused an NCO. Some of the grumbling was plain old bitching–as familiar and comforting as an old pair of boots. But one sergeant, miffed at Clinton’s pledge to accept “full responsibility” for any U.S. casualties, expressed a collective resentment. “We’re the ones who are going to die,” he said.
While Washington debates the exit strategy, the grunts are worried about what will happen when they get there. Many soldiers I talked to think the 12-month mission to cool down the warring factions is too short a time, a “fairy tale” invented by politicians. “If we don’t do this right,” explains a sergeant, “we’ll end up being the meat in the sandwich; it will be Vietnam all over again.” The First Armored Division–now designated Task Force Eagle–will go in cocked, locked and ready. It can deliver a terrifying punch: tank, Bradley and artillery fire, Apache and Kiowa armed helos shooting Hellfire missiles, 30-mm cannons and .50-caliber machine guns, and infantry weapons and all the thunder that NATO aircraft can bring. No one’s afraid of a fire fight.
But what about an ambush? The Third Platoon is currently down nine guys for the rugged, hilly terrain of central Bosnia. Will the new recruits click with the team during dangerous and uncertain operations? Lt. Salvatore Barbaria, the platoon leader with recruiting-poster good looks, left little doubt about his men’s resolve. “War fighting or peace enforcement,” he said. “That’s our job.”
