Posted on 03/20/2003 6:11:29 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Young U.S. soldiers face Iraq war baptism of fire
By Kieran Murray
CAMP NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - This time last year, Dan Burgoni was a first year student at a performing arts school in Chicago, playing jazz trombone and composing his own music.
Now, he is about to invade Iraq.
The skinny 20-year-old had only been in the U.S. army's storied 101st Airborne Division a few weeks when he was deployed to north Kuwait. Any day now, he will be part of a massive land attack across the Iraqi border.
Burgoni's trombone is home in Illinois. Here, he carries a rifle over his shoulder and a gas mask strapped to his thigh in case of a chemical or biological attack by Iraqi forces.
It was his decision to suspend his studies and sign up for three years in the army last June -- the realization of a boyhood dream to "jump around and shoot weapons" -- but he still seems amazed that things have moved so fast.
"It is kind of a big jump, from jazz trombone to this," Burgoni said with a smile at this hot and dusty camp near the Iraq border. "I guess I'm ready. I have to be."
Burgoni is not so unusual. Although the U.S. army is the muscle behind the world's only superpower, it is still made up overwhelmingly of young soldiers who have never been to war before, let alone come under enemy fire.
Officers say the key to achieving military superiority despite the troops' limited combat experience lies in more advanced weaponry and in constant training of troops.
The test looks likely to come soon: some 280,000 U.S. and British troops stand ready to attack Iraq on U.S. President George W. Bush's order.
"We have enough training where we don't have to think about it. We're just trained to do it and keep going until the mission is done," said Pat Coggi, a 19-year-old from Rochester, New York, who joined the army just seven months ago.
"I'm very confident of what I can do, and what my squad, my platoon can do. I trust those guys," he said.
GUT CHECK
Still, many young U.S. soldiers face a "gut check" like they've never had before -- will they freeze when the bullets start flying? Are they prepared to see dead bodies around them?
Some fear chemical weapons and others worry about suicide bombers, or getting caught in so-called friendly fire in the confusion of battle. Some say they fear nothing at all, but no one believes them.
"You want to go and fight, but you just don't want to die," said 19-year-old Bron Duenas, who until last summer spent his time riding dirt bikes in the California desert and working part-time in a tire shop.
"I never thought I'd be here but, hey, here I am. It's almost like a draft," he said, adding he wished he could have visited his family in California before travelling out here from his base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Experienced veterans are cast as mentors by younger soldiers, and those who have been in war at least once say it has helped them better prepare for this one.
"I was young and I was scared and I was ready to see death. If I wasn't a man before, I grew up fast out there," said Staff Sergeant Jacques Wyatt, who served in the 1991 Gulf War. "I guess I was just flapping back then but, now I've been through it, I can help the young soldiers."
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