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- <text id=93TT0067>
- <link 93XP0517>
- <link 93TO0109>
- <title>
- Oct 18, 1993: Letters Home
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Oct. 18, 1993 What in The World Are We Doing?
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- COVER, Page 45
- Letters Home
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>Private First Class Richard Kowalewski, 20, an Army Ranger,
- was killed in action last week in Mogadishu. He had written
- faithfully to a hometown friend in Crucible, Pennsylvania. Some
- excerpts:
- </p>
- <p> AUG. 11: I love my country and everything it stands for. I am
- in a position that I may have to give my life for my country.
- </p>
- <p> I must also say a few words for the 3rd Ranger Battalion. As
- you well know, I love this. Despite how we [soldiers] all
- fight and mess with each other, there is a bond here that you
- have to be a part of to understand. I am very confident in the
- leadership of the 3rd Ranger Battalion. We are the best.
- </p>
- <p> AUG. 20: I kept waking up all night long. I sleep in the corner
- of our tent. I must have rolled over and stared at the stars
- for hours...There are a few times in a person's life that
- really make him or her think. One of those being when you think
- it might be your time to go.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 3: I've been here nine days, and it feels like nine years.
- The days are becoming longer and longer. My day started at 4
- this morning.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 9: I am not sure of what to listen to and what to blow
- off anymore. About the only thing that I'm sure of is I want
- to go home and get the hell out of here.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 10: Last night was a wild night here. The fighting started
- about 3:30 p.m. and lasted well into the night. The good news
- is it wasn't any of our people. There were American troops involved,
- but they weren't Rangers.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 19: It's the same old b.s. here. The only thing that has
- changed is the day. And that makes me one day closer to coming
- home.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 22: In today's intelligence brief, we received some real
- upsetting news. Tonight we are supposed to get hit by 150 gunmen.
- The men are said to have women and children holding hands walking
- in front of the gunmen as they shoot--sort of a human shield.
- Don't get me wrong, but I'm scared, real damn scared.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 24: I'm starting to get real homesick. The best news is
- those 250 [sic] people turned out to be a hoax.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 26: Yesterday was probably the coldest, darkest, saddest
- day of my life. I stood at attention as three American soldiers
- were rolled by in caskets draped with American flags. War is
- very sad and kills everyone in some way. I can't help but think
- what might happen if it had been me in one of those caskets.
- </p>
- <p> SEPT. 27: I'm being as careful as I can. I carry a loaded weapon
- with me everywhere I go. I don't hesitate one bit by showing
- it to the faces of these Somalis that are always around us.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-