Las Vegas SUN: Gulf War legacy Sun 4/14/97
* MINEFIELD - [Photo appeared here] Wegner said the three yellow bands on the post in the forefront of this picture indicate a chemical minefield.
Wegner said he took this photo Feb. 24, 1991, shortly before a U.S. tank battalion drove through the area.
For 1 1/2 hours, Wegner and a fellow soldier and friend drove on military route MSR Sultan, covering miles of desert under the darkness of the predawn sky. It was about 5:30 a.m. when they spotted the first signs of Iraqi minefields separated by rows of spikes.
They stopped their vehicle and climbed out. It was here -- somewhere in the desert that separated Kuwait from the Saudi Arabia border -- that Wegner said he spotted the metal post with three yellow bands.
Two declassified military documents warn troops against handling munitions marked with three colors: red (nerve agents, such as tabun or sarin), green (phosgene) and yellow (blister, such as mustard gas).
As Wegner and the other soldier watched, a battalion of tanks rumbled into sight. Before he realized what was planned, an explosive charge ripped across the desert and Wegner heard a "poof!" and saw smoke.
"I heard the first alarm go off and left instantly," Wegner said.
"Everybody started honking their horns, 'Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!'
That means chemical attack. Then all these armored vehicles were jamming, Mach 1-million, through the sand and smoke.
"I don't think they even knew what they went through. They had blown up a chemical minefield."
A chunk of shrapnel shot though the air and landed near Wegner and his friend, who picked it up and put it in a sealed container. The two also took a sample of sand.
Often cited as proof of chemical encounter are the detections reported by the Task Force Ripper 7th Marines of the 1st Marine Division.
On Feb. 24, this tank battalion and others reported a chemical mine in Kuwait. Fox vehicles detected trace amounts of mustard gas and the unknown agent caused blistering on the exposed arms of two armored amphibious vehicle crewmen.
But an investigation of the official logs and records, followed up by personal
interviews and researching medical and casualty reports, could not substantiate
the Marine Corps report, according to a Pentagon official testifying May
6 before the Presidential Advisory Committee
on Gulf War Illness.
Wegner said neither he nor his friend felt ill or developed blisters, but now both are sick.