Some New Hampshire residents are watching the war with a more intimate understanding than the rest of us. They are veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. NHPR’s Trish Anderton caught up with Sergeant Fred Pressley in Littleton. As he watches the latest gulf war, Pressley deals with the memories of the last one.
FOX NEWS IS BLARING ON THE TV AT THE VFW IN LITTLETON. SERGEANT FRED PRESLEY SITS AT THE BAR. HE’S CASUALLY DRESSED IN JEANS AND A SWEATSHIRT, BUT HE LOOKS NEAT AND PULLED TOGETHER. PRESLEY SERVED WITH THE ARMY’S 24TH INFANTRY DIVISION IN OPERATION DESERT STORM . HIS TASK: MAKING SURE THE MACHINERY OF WAR DIDN’T RUN OUT OF GAS.
002 15 I had to fuel tanks, helicopters, we put up a little fueling station in the desert for the tanks to come by. Transport fuel and all that good stuff.
IT WAS HOT, DUSTY, LOUD WORK. FOR A MONTH AND A HALF, PRESLEY WORE A HEAVY SUIT TO PROTECT AGAINST CHEMICAL WARFARE.
We had to sleep in the stuff. // it’s hot. // like ski pants. A skidoo suit. Hows that sound?.
most of us put on our longjohns underneath, we took our uniforms off bc it was so hot.
PRESLEY SLEPT IN A TENT WITH 17 OTHER SOLDIERS. THAT IS, WHEN THERE WAS A TENT.
006 49 when we were moving you slept in your truck or whatever youcould do, slept on the ground. 004 200 do you sleep well over there? Yeah when the planes aren’t screaming overhad every five minutes. And are they always screaming overhead every five minutes? I dunno about now, but they were then, yeah.
WHEN PRESLEY TALKS ABOUT THE GULF WAR, HE SOMETIMES PAUSES AND LOOKS AWAY. HE’S SCREENING HIS WORDS. THAT’S PARTLY BECAUSE HE’S STILL IN THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD, SO HE HAS TO BE CAREFUL WHAT HE SAYS. IT’S ALSO BECAUSE HE DOESN’T WANT TO REVEAL TOO MUCH. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SIGHTS AND SMELLS OF WAR, HE HEDGES. HE MENTIONS THE SMELL OF ROTTING FLESH, OF BURNING FLESH. HE DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.
004 00 does that stuff stay with you?
Of course it does. Its really coming back now, has been the last month or two.
Is that hard to deal with?
Yeah. // I saw a lot of stuff over there the first time and this brings it back. I’ve had army buddies give me a call and we talk about it, we deal with it.
Do you have dreams?
Once in a while. (laughs)
WHILE HE WAS IN THE WAR, PRESLEY’S MOTHER SENT HIM THEIR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER, THE LITTLETON COURIER, EVERY WEEK. HE LIKED READING ABOUT THE YELLOW RIBBONS AND OTHER GESTURES OF SUPPORT PEOPLE DISPLAYED BACK HOME. HE SAYS HE IGNORED NEWS ABOUT ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS, WHO CLEARLY ANNOY HIM. BUT THERE’S ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT REALLY DRIVES PRESLEY CRAZY: THOSE WHO SAY THE MILITARY SHOULD HAVE OUSTED SADDAM HUSSEIN.
005 100 we did our job the first time. Our mission was to liberate kuwait. // I’m sick of all these people saying we should have done it the first time. All these people weren’t there. If you want to say we, we can go down to the recruiting office, get you an M-16, and then we can go over there and do it. But we accomplished our mission.
SINCE THE WAR, PRESLEY HAS BEEN BUILDING CHIMNEYS AND FIREPLACES BACK HERE IN THE LITTLETON AREA. HE ALSO DRILLS WITH THE 744TH TRANSPORTATION COMPANY OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD. HIS UNIT IS ON ALERT AND COULD BE CALLED UP AT ANY TIME. PRESLEY SAYS HE’S READY TO DROP EVERYTHING AND GO FIGHT. FOR NHPR NEWS I’M TRISH ANDERTON IN LITTLETON.
