DESERT STORM NAVAL RESERVISTS TO BE HONORED

Nearly 100 Naval Reservists, who were called to active duty during Operation Desert Storm, will be awarded the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, during a ceremony today at the Cape Girardeau Naval Reserve Center.

Guest speaker for the ceremony, which begins at 3 p.m., will be former Missouri Governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Ashcroft. Also participating in the presentations will be Missouri State Rep. Mary Kasten.

The Cape Girardeau Naval Reserve Training Center provides mobilization training for Naval Reservists who live in the Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky area. Reservists from all three states will be receiving the medal.

"The Reservists who are eligible for the medal are those who actually served in the Persian Gulf area during the war," said Lieutenant Commander Donald R. Taylor, Commanding Officer of the Reserve Center, located at 2530 Maria Louise Lane, north of Arena Park.

"The medals, which are being provided by the Kuwaiti government, were initially requested for the Reservists when the eligibility criteria was announced by the Department of Defense following the Gulf War," said Chief Petty Officer (Submarine Service) Robert E. Ratliff, the Reserve Center's Command Chief Petty Officer.

"However, the number of medals provided to the U.S. government was insufficient to provide each person who served with a medal. Saudi Arabia received more than they needed so they passed their excess medals to America.

Boatswain Mate First Class (Surface Warfare) Jack C. Watt, who is in charge of the ceremony, said former Naval Reservists who are eligible to receive the liberation medal, even though they are no longer drilling reservists, have been invited to attend the ceremony to formally receive their medal.