GREENSBURG, PA. Service remembers Scud attack

The families of those who were lost have stayed close.
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Families, friends and veterans gathered to remember 13 soldiers from the 14th Quartermaster Detachment killed 15 years ago when an Iraqi Scud missile slammed into their barracks in Saudi Arabia during the first gulf war.
"I feel blessed to be here with you today to honor our loved ones. We forget that there are men and women out there ready to lay their lives on the line for us," Connie Clark told the crowd Saturday at the Greensburg Memorial U.S. Army Reserve Center.
Her daughter, Beverly Clark, 23, died Feb. 25, 1991, when a Scud missile destroyed the barracks of the 14th Quartermaster Detachment.
Beverly Clark was one of 13 members of the Westmoreland County-based Army Reserve water purification unit killed in the attack, which claimed the lives of 28 soldiers and wounded 99 more.
The unit, which had been in Saudi Arabia for only six days when the attack occurred, took the heaviest casualties during the first gulf war.
"We miss Beverly terribly," Connie Clark said. "But we are proud of her."
Elaine Boxler of Johnstown said her husband, Sgt. John T. Boxler, would have turned 60 in May.
"I can't believe it. I was 40 when he was killed," she said.
The ceremony included speeches, the laying of a wreath and a 21-gun salute.
Close families
Family members of the 14th Quartermaster have remained close, Connie Clark said.
Angela Betton of Arlington, Va., was 20 years old when she broke her left leg in the attack. She spent more than a year undergoing several surgeries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Now a hairdresser, she remembers the attack every February, she said.
"Your heart, it just gets a little bit sadder," said Betton, who returned to Greensburg this year to spend time with others who also served in the gulf war.
Spc. Christine L. Mayes' family travels from Punxsutawney every year for the memorial service.
"It means a lot to know people still think about them once in a while and to know they didn't die in vain," her mother, Darlene Mayes, said. "It's just nice to know people care."