7 honored for Kuwait work

The unit was in charge of providing fuel for soldiers in the Middle East.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA STAFF
SHARON, Pa. -- They traveled through three countries, five states and six military installations, but the seven members of the 475th Quartermaster Group, Detachment 2 made it home safely.
The seven men were honored Tuesday morning at Tiger Stadium in Sharon for their nearly yearlong service in Kuwait. The reservists, whose unit is based in Farrell, Pa., were responsible for supplying fuel to troops stationed in the Middle East.
"They moved 1.7 million gallons of fuel a day. Without these soldiers, the helicopters wouldn't fly, the tanks wouldn't roll and the humvees wouldn't go," said Maj. Gen. William Johnson, commanding general of the 99th Regional Readiness Command.
All of the men received Bronze Stars during the ceremony, which was attended by family members, residents and seventh- and eighth-grade pupils from Sharon Junior-Senior High School.
While in the Middle East, the seven-man crew also saved the federal government millions of dollars by renegotiating contracts with oil suppliers.
Col. John C. Skelly III, who was in charge of the group, said as areas of the Middle East became more secure, his group was able to renegotiate fuel costs. They also persuaded contractors to use their own people to move the fuel. Previously, soldiers were used because it was dangerous, he said.
Among their duties
Skelly, Lt. Col. Todd Warner and Maj. Kurt Weinand were responsible for renegotiating those contracts, he said.
Skelly, of Harmony, Pa., said he is proud of his group.
"This group of soldiers did tremendous things every day. The human soldier runs on the ultimate liquid, water. Everything else runs on gas. We provided 548 million gallons of gas," he said.
The group also was responsible for changing the fuel record-keeping system from paper and pencil to a computer-based system that can now be accessed online by the military.
While part of one unit, the men say they rarely spent time together during their time overseas because each was working on different projects.
Sgt. Major Dennis Lynch received a special designation because he spent 12 consecutive weeks in Iraq during the mission.
Most of the unit was comprised of Desert Storm veterans, including Sgt. Major Terrence Bolger and Master Sgt. Larry Houston, who were in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 25, 1991, when an Iraqi scud missile hit the barracks, killing 29 soldiers, the biggest loss of life in Desert Storm.
Houston was there pulling out the wounded within minutes of the attack; Bolger was there within hours helping retrieve soldiers' belongings.
"They came home and lived 14 years with those memories and no medals. So guys, 14 years later, your medals caught up with you," said Warner, deputy commander of the unit.
Maj. Larry Scheetz of Sharon received double recognition at the ceremony.
Sharon Mayor David Ryan proclaimed Tuesday as Maj. Larry Scheetz Day in the city, along with naming the day for Scheetz's wife, Dawnle. Dawnle Scheetz is one of those in charge of the family readiness support groups in the area, and she and her husband founded the local family readiness support group, Yellow Ribbon Families.
Pen-pal
Eighth-grade pupils at Sharon Junior High School also recognized Scheetz, who was a pen pal to many through his deployment.
In addition to letters, Scheetz sent back traditional clothing, foreign money, U.S. Army patches and a power-point presentation about the Middle East, said English teacher Maria Rodenbaugh.
Scheetz' contact with the youngsters also helped his own 13-year-old daughter, Adrienne, an eighth-grader at the school, get through the last year without her father.
"All of my friends thought it was pretty cool," she said of the items he sent back from the Middle East. "But I feel proud that he's back."
cioffi@vindy.com