Point/CounterpointDebate newsworthy and other 'hot-button' topics here. If it can be debated, this is the forum for it. Can't be thin skinned - people will disagree with you. No flaming or personal attacks.
Bartonville-based men 'unaccounted for' since Friday convoy attack near Baghdad's airport
PEORIA - Two members of a Bartonville-based Army Reserve unit remain unaccounted for after an attack on their fuel convoy near Baghdad International Airport on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed late Monday that the whereabouts of Sgt. Elmer C. Krause, 40, of Greensboro, N.C., and Pfc. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, of the 724th Transportation Company remain unknown.
"The soldiers were unaccounted for since April 9, when their convoy came under attack by individuals using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire," according to a DOD statement.
The coalition public affairs office in Baghdad confirmed the attack took place west of the airport. Besides the two soldiers from the 724th, seven employees of a private contractor working for the coalition also remain unaccounted for.
One U.S. soldier and one Iraqi civilian were killed in the attack on the military fuel convoy. No further information was available on the identities or whether the soldier was a member of the Bartonville-based unit.
The 724th left Bartonville in two waves. In August, 22 Reservists left central Illinois to supplement quartermaster operations in the Gulf. They trained for a few months at Fort McCoy, Wis., before arriving in theater in November or December.
The rest of the unit, some 130 soldiers, headed to Fort McCoy in December for similar training before leaving for Kuwait in February. In March, the 724th drove over the border and headed north into Iraq, beginning their one-year tour of duty.
While in Iraq, the unit is stationed northwest of Baghdad near a large American air base in Balad.
Classified as a medium truck company, the 5-ton trucks of the 724th carry petroleum and other fuel products.
This is the first time the entire unit has been mobilized since the first Gulf War, when about 140 members were called up. This time, their deployment could last up to 18 months, with at least one year of that being "in-country."
(I had a weekend college classmate from this unit who was activated, but his name was neither of the two mentioned as missing.)
I'm glad he wasn't mentioned, Danny. All of them are in my prayers. They are being held by people who don't care about the Geneva Conventions and humane treatment of POW's.
Point/Counterpoint
04-13-2004, 19:37
Two from local unit missing in Iraq. 
