Engineering, security, interpreting skills used by locals

Two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, 28 U.S. naval reservists left Cape Girardeau for duty on the island nation of Bahrain in the Middle East to help provide security.

When the USS Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first aircraft carriers sent to drop bombs on Afghanistan, a 21-year-old Perryville, Mo., native was on board. The first bomb the carrier sent had his words -- "This is for NY" -- scribbled on it.

When members of al-Qaida were rounded up and questioned at Camp X-Ray in Cuba, an Arabic-speaking U.S. Army reservist from Jackson, Mo., was sent there to help interrogate.

The list goes on.

In the days and weeks after Sept. 11, Southeast Missourians were among those who proudly answered the call to arms as U.S. citizens clamored for a military response to repay those responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.

"We need to understand the sacrifice they made," said Lt. Commander Willie Stigler, who heads the Naval Reserve Center in Cape Girardeau, which sent the 28 sailors to Bahrain.

"What they did is not an easy task," he said. "They went from civilian life to full-time military during a time of war. Their efforts will not go unnoticed."

Operations Specialist Jeff Pender of Cobden, Ill., was one of those naval reservists who spent six months at a naval center in Bahrain, which is in the Persian Gulf. The sailors, who returned home June 15, performed roving patrols and worked in watch towers and harbor patrol units as well as at entrance gates.

"It was hard being away from our families, but we were proud to do it," said the 41-year-old Pender, a former full time Navy sailor. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I signed up for the college money, but we all know the possibility is there. We know what to do when the time comes."

Pender said those who went to the Navy's administrative support unit at Bahrain understood that it was a dangerous mission because the Naval base was a target.

"That was the main supply area in the Gulf," Pender said. "Many of the supplies were going in through Bahrain, then out to the ships."

Back to work

Shohn Lorenz, a 21-year-old Perryville resident, joined the full-time Navy when he graduated from high school in 1999. He never thought he would be in a war-time military, but after Sept. 11, that's exactly what happened.

Lorenz was on leave at his parents home in Perryville on Sept. 11, but he was immediately ordered back to Norfolk, Va., where he was to serve on the USS Theodore Roosevelt -- an aircraft carrier armed "to the teeth" with bombs, nine squadrons of jets and 6,000 sailors.

On Sept. 19, the carrier departed for the Mediterranean Sea to prepare to drop bombs on the al- Qaida terrorist network. The ship then eased into the Suez Canal in Egypt and finally 150 miles off the coast of Afghanistan.

"I knew we were going to see some combat," said Lorenz, an engineer who helped operate elevators that lift jets from hangars to the flight deck.

The day before the soldiers knew they were sending bombs via the F-14s and F-18s, it was quiet on the ship, Lorenz said. That night, many people wrote messages on the bombs.

Lorenz said the aircraft carrier was never fired upon, but there was talk of a biological agent being dropped on them. They were issued gas masks.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt didn't dock for 159 days, a feat never before done by an aircraft carrier. The burden was made easier at Christmas by a concert from pop singer Jessica Simpson. They also were treated to an occasional stand-up comic and two beers every 45 days.

"It doesn't sound like much, but people really came to look forward to that stuff," he said.

Despite all Lorenz did, he said he looks at the firefighters of New York as the true heroes.

"Sept. 11 wasn't really about the military," he said. "It was about those local heroes that people don't give attention to, like firefighters and police."

Interpreting Arabic

Even some soldiers who didn't get close to the action still played a role.

Capt. Scott Hensley, who lives in Jackson, went to Guantanamo Bay after being activated last October.

Hensley, who is expected home next month, speaks Arabic and had been interrogating suspects at Camp X-Ray. Hensley is back in Texas and couldn't be reached. But his wife, Toye, said she and her daughters are ready for his return.

"It's been hard," she said.

Some local soldiers played other roles that were not connected to the war, but were equally appreciated.

A contingency of 100 area National Guardsmen were among 400 Guardsmen from Missouri who helped provide security for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in January.

The troops joined about 17,000 other Guardsmen who were part of the security force for the Feb. 8-24 games. The local troops are part of Company B of the 1140th Combat Engineers Battalion of Perryville and Jackson.

Mark Berkbigler of Cape Girardeau was one of those soldiers. The 20-year-old private first class said the events of Sept. 11 made it more of an honor to serve as a soldier in the Olympics force.

"I thought it was a great honor," he said. "People from other countries kept telling us how they envied us and how they appreciated what we did for the rest of the world. I felt really proud of my country."

The soldiers were unified in their support of how Americans should behave on the anniversary of Sept. 11 -- which is to act as proud Americans whose way of life was not destroyed by the terrorist attacks.

"The most important thing is that the country has continued on," Pender said. "We have to let them know that we don't stop what we're doing so they know they didn't change our way of life."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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