The Kurdish Detour
Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia—For some of the troops, the week that followed SSG Hanson’s speech at Khobar Village was filled with pure, unmitigated boredom. The boredom was partially relieved by opportunities to swim and sun at the US recreational area of Half Moon Bay¹. Other members of the unit were extra busy. The commander and staff had to increase the number of vehicles by 54% and trailers by 100% as well as pick up computers, copy machines, and brick radios. Task organizing was necessary to enable the unit to accomplish camp operations for displaced civilians and support Special Forces in mountain camps in southern Turkey. Finally, after a number of delays, flights began the 432nd’s movement out on April 22 to Incirlik, Turkey.
Departing Saudi was not hard. The troops applauded as the planes lifted off in gratitude for leaving Saudi as well as finally getting started with the last job preceding their return home.
McMurry’s Notes
- Although alcohol, extramarital sex and gambling are illegal throughout the Persian Gulf, those of false piety still have an outlet for their vices: Bahrain. Bahrain is a 30-minute drive across a causeway from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. For soldiers whose friends and families were not inventive enough to smuggle booze and porn to them in the mail, a trip to Bahrain was a welcome release. I was one of many who were out of beer drinking shape. When we arrived in Bahrain we started off our trip with a visit to the U.S. Navy base. That was as far as I made it. The first thing I did was get two beers — one for each hand — from the bar. I chugged those in minutes. That’s the way I kept ordering, and drinking, until I passed out. Sometime after that the Shore Patrol politely asked me to please leave their base. I gladly obliged — I had accomplished my mission!
McMurry passed out, just before the Shore Patrol escorted him off base. JAG officer Guy Courchaine failed to mount a successful defense.
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