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File: 102896_jun96_decls6_0052.txt
Subject: DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW
Box ID: BX001608
Unit: 101ST ID
Parent Organization: XVIII CORPS
Folder Title: DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C
Folder SEQ #: 83
Document Number: 2
DSIT-AE-103: COL Roy E. Beauchamp
MAJ HONEC: That's impressive.
COL BEAUCHAMP: We were very fortunate. Very, very
fortunate. The soldiers were good but we were very
fortunate that we had not received any. Under slightly
altered circumstances we could have taken a lot of
casualties based on where we were and what we were doing.
But we were fortunate. And that was ... made ... the
homecoming was made even better because everybody was able
to come home.
MAJ HONEC: As a commander, I imagine it took a lot of ...
you know ... you had a great burden. Any loss of one
soldier, I imagine would make you feel ...
COL BEAUCHAMP: Exactly. Any time a commander makes a
decision that he knows is going to put soldiers in harm's
way and put soldiers in danger, you weigh that very
carefully. You can't agonize over that, but it's a great
burden I think for any commander to have to do that. I
won't say it's a burden. It's a great responsibility. You
take those decisions very seriously when you start doing
that.
I expected it when we deployed to Fort Campbell and the
soldiers ... we talked to the soldiers about it very openly.
A soldier would say to me, when we were talking, sir, I'm a
little bit scared here about this and I was wondering about
the war. I said that means you're normal. If you are going
to, you ought to be. You ought to be a little nervous about
it. We heard talk about a guy who was going to go into
combat and he says I'm not afraid. You watch that guy
because it's normal to be anxious about that. When you've
got a million guys who are maybe trying to kill vou, you
ought to be real nervous about that. We didn't know what we
solders didn't know what we were
getting into. Nobody anticipated or predicted a 100-hour
war. We expected to take some casualties. We expected to
encounter chemical warfare. And we didn't expect it to be
over--at least I didn't expect it to be over--in a hundred
hours. I didn't think it would last a long time but I
didn't think it would be over in 100 hours.
But I encouraged my soldiers to verbalize their
feelings--to talk about that. We're not holding counseling
sessions. I'm not talking about that. But you have to be
honest and up front I think ... people have to understand
that if you are going to war, you have to take that
seriously because people may get killed, may get wounded.
And soldiers have to know it's okay to be anxious about
that. That makes them more confident I think. What I
talked to them about in my discussions with them--and I've
held hundreds of these discussions--you've got to take that
49
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Document 64 f:/Week-22/BX001608/DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C/desert shield-storm interview:10019616504029
Control Fields 17
File Room = jun96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-22
Box ID = BX001608
Unit = 101ST ID
Parent Organization = XVIII CORPS
Folder Title = DSS 101ST ABN DIV INTERVIEW CDR 101ST SG - C
Folder Seq # = 83
Subject = DESERT SHIELD-STORM INTERVIEW
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 01-OCT-1996