Army marks 25th anniversary of deadly Scud attack during Operation Desert Storm Greensburg service honors the 14th Quartermaster Co.
Norman Madison of Monessen stares at his son’s name listed among those killed during Operation Desert Storm 25 years ago Thursday during a ceremony at a monument to the 14th Quartermaster Co. at the Greensburg U.S. Army Reserve Center.
Veteran Mary Rhoads of California, right, is comforted Thursday by her sister, Kathy Boehmer of Canonsburg, while they visit a Greensburg monument to members of Rhoads’ unit who were killed in Operation Desert Storm.
Paula Wukovich of Monongahela, whose husband was killed in Operation Desert Storm, visits a Greensburg memorial Thursday with her son, Matt, honoring his father’s unit
GREENSBURG – Matt Wukovich has one memory of his father, a Monongahela soldier who was among 13 members of a U.S. Army Reserve unit killed 25 years ago Thursday during Operation Desert Storm.
Wukovich said he was 2 years old and standing beside his sister at a military base when their father, John A. Boliver Jr., came over to them and picked her up and said, “There’s my girl.”
“I’m proud of my dad. He taught me more in death than he did in life,” Wukovich said Thursday following a memorial service in Hempfield Township to remember those who were killed in the attack, as well as to honor the veterans of the 14th Quartermaster Co.
A U.S. Patriot missile failed to intercept an Iraqi Scud missile Feb. 25, 1991, and it destroyed the company’s barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, injuring 43 members of the water purification unit. The 14th Quartermaster suffered the greatest number of casualties among the units serving in the first Persian Gulf War.
The attack killed two other local men and left many other members of the 14th with mysterious illness, including Mary Rhoads of California. The other local casualties of the attack were Sgt. Joseph Phillip Bongiorni III, 20, of Hickory, and Spc. Anthony Erik Madison, 27, of Monessen.
“It’s hard for me,” Rhoads said, referring to the roller coaster of emotions she experiences at reunions at the memorial outside the Greensburg U.S. Army Reserve Center at 900 Armory Drive.
Rhoads, 59, burst into tears when she arrived at the memorial and was comforted by her sister, Kathy Boehmer of Canonsburg.
“It was the hardest I’ve ever cried,” Rhoads said.
Major Gen. Margaret W. Boor, commander of the 99th Regional Support Command, served as guest speaker at the service, saying Americans owe a debt to the 14th Quartermaster Co. that can never be fully paid.
“I hope today certainly will bring some small measure of consolation, although no amount of honors and accolades can ever make up for your loss,” Boor said before a large crowd that gathered in a tent for the service.
Kelli George of Finleyville, who suffered shrapnel wounds to a leg and a pierced eardrum from the Scud missile, said it made her happy to come back to the base Thursday to see her friends, even though she also had mixed emotions that afternoon.
“It brings everything back to the forefront,” George said.
Norman Madison of Monessen said he felt upbeat during the service, unlike the years he spent in and out of depression after his son died.
“Coming up here does help me out,” Madison, 78, said. “It’s wonderful to see all of the folks.”
Wukovich, 27, of Coraopolis, took his stepfather’s last name after his mother, Paula, remarried, but he said he tries to live his life by mirroring his father’s good character. He’s the same age today as was his father when he was killed after having been in Saudi Arabia for just six days.
“He put his life on the line for people he didn’t know,” he said. “That’s selfless.”