Missile attack survivors keep promise to remember fallen

By Jacob Tierney

Trib Total Media

Thursday’s memorial service for Hempfield’s 14th Quartermaster Detachment was both somber and joyful, a time for mourning those lost while catching up with old friends.

“It’s nice to see everyone,” said Sgt. Mary Rhoads of California, Pa. “We made a promise that we would never forget them.”

The ceremony at the Greensburg Army Reserve Center in Hempfield was in memory of the 13 members of the detachment who were killed 30 years ago when an Iraqi missile struck their barracks in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.

Rhoads was leaving the compound when the missile hit.

“It was chaos,” she said. “Everyone was trying to rescue everybody.”

She has attended the annual memorial service nearly every year since. It’s an opportunity to see other members of the detachment and their families, many of whom she doesn’t see all year.

“It’s nice to have someone who understands what you’re going through,” she said.

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