North Ceirolina Central University
February 26,1991
An Eagle writes Home
File Ibliowli^ letter was written hy Cra% Bentcm
m FeB. 14* Bentonto^k Fresshmnki Cntnpnsitieti in
pile S|>Hiig Is now In ^ndl Amkla^ as a
jpart of Operation Desert Storm..
A Letter Home
i\51 walk tkroii^h tke desert sand,
tki»kd'tbetmalsl enjoyed In my bomeland,
ere» my only sonrce of enjoyment
s wntdiiiig Ike cobras and scorpions Bght,
lie tbesonnds of artillery lire
liltbe n^L
reaHty of Desert Storm
atbatid;
tyofnswomier
by ve are l^btlng this man.
ItfiMrinmiey,
or potlBimt mnbitiont
at Bs’s too late, now, to contemplate;
wei^nsare loaded with ammanltlon.
yerydny people a^
IVhy tbIsSate bascome to me.
Ike only answer I can give
Is so that Knwalt might be set free^
-Compliments of tbe Lonely jBoys
Clnb
id" Saudi Arabia.
Crsdg M. Benton
firmer student Id" Engitsh 1200
Spring Semester, 15^9
CralglH.Sentmi
DperaBott D«s«rt Storm
»K2'r»msBtt
/TraasGratg*
4jPONewTnrb 09010
NCCU students march for peace in a Jan. demonstration.
Air Attacks Prepare for Ground War
From the Durham Mormng
Herald-
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia -
Allied jets are paving the way
for a ground war by bombing
thousands of Iraqi artillery
pieces, including some
capable of hurling chemical
and conventional shells much
farther than allied cannon.
Allied commanders say
knocking out the artillery will
be decisive in stripping away
the last layer of protection
for front-line Iraqi positions
and clearing the way for
ground assaults through mine
fields and revetments.
“He is heavily dq)endent on
his artilloy forces, and he
positions them in such a way
as to complement his fm-ward
line of troops, more ^cifi-
cally to ccnnplement his
obstacle barrier,” said a U.S.
military officCT.
“Battlefield preparation is
hitting the barrier system, hit
ting the forces that comple
ment that barrier system and,
most importantly, hitting the
artillery that is going to
service that barrier system,”
said the officer, who spoke on
condition that his name not be
used, at a briefing in Saudi
Arabia.
U.S. commanders claim to
have destroyed 1,200 of the
estimated 3,200 Iraqi artillery
pieces of 100mm or more, plus
large numbers of ground-to-
ground rocket launchers in
Kuwait and southern Iraq. But
they offered no breakdown on
whether the “kills” included
any of the 300-400 Iraqi
“super cannon” in the region -
south African-made G-S and
Austrian GH-N4S guns that
hurl rocket-assisted shells to a
range of 25 miles.
Although less accurate at such
long ranges and packing rela
tively weak explosive wallops,
those guns can rain shell on
areas far behind the front
lines. They can be used to fire
chemical or biological shells.
The top U.S. cannon, a
155mm gun, has a range of 18
miles when firing rocket-
assisted M-864 shells that
cost $8,000 each. U.S. Mul
tiple Rocket Launcher Sys
tems, which fire 12-round
salvos of 600-pound rockets,
have a range of 19 miles, but
lack the accuracy of artillery.
U.S. artillery men boast they
would be the hands-down
winners of the deadly duel of
artillery fire certain to erupt in
any allied ground assault.
With a higher pea-cenUge of
self-propelled artillery, much
better targeting “eyes,” well-
trained crews and radars that
compute the origin of incoming
rounds, U.S. crews hope to
“shoot and scoot” before the
Iraqis react.
Allied air supremacy will
give attacking jets a virtually
free hand in bombing and
strafing Iraqi artillery posititwts.