The Road to Safwan: The 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 ...

Deployment 37
most an hour to return the call at the phone booth, waiting while
others said a few last words with loved ones on the few phones
available to call off-post. Finally, he got through to his mom, and
now faced a dilemma as she told him that his grandmother had
died and that they wanted him to come home. Torn between his
family and his soldiers, the motor sergeant decided to stay with
his troops, although 1SGT Colangelo offered to send him home
for the funeral and let him catch up later. Ball believed his duty
was to his soldiers and he did not want to let them down at the
most important moment in their career. 18
The soldiers boarded buses and rode over to the aircraft
hangers at Fort Riley’s airfield. There they waited in a reception
area manned by volunteers from the Red Cross, Veterans of
Foreign Wars, and members of the “Old Troopers,” such as retired
LTG Richard Seitz and community leaders. Seitz was a
prominent member of the retired military community and had
led a bayonet charge during the Battle of the Bulge in 1945 and
went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam. He had stories to entertain
and motivate the young troopers. While they waited until
being ordered to the departure airfield, some troopers passed
the time talking to families and girlfriends who came to wait
with their loved ones. Others just collapsed in a corner, trying
to get a little sleep. Just before he left headquarters, Morrison
learned that he had promotion orders for one of his soldiers.
There, in the cold hangar with bags packed high and soldiers
tired of hurrying up to wait, Headquarters Troop had an impromptu
promotion for one of their own. 19
Next stop was Forbes Field in Topeka, Kansas, about an
hour east of Fort Riley. It was a quiet bus ride. In the dark most
troopers were lost in their thoughts or just tired, now caught up
in something far larger than any of them could control. Then, it
was off the buses and into the reception area for another muster
and finally a briefing and the last check by customs agents and
the drug dogs. Just before they boarded the aircraft, a snowstorm
delayed the departure and everyone, again, found a
place to relax. Then they got clearance to fly and the tired,
somewhat dazed soldiers formed up again. MAJ Burdan found
himself remembering his father’s stories about departing from
Forbes Field in 1952 during the Korea War, when he had been a