U.S. Troops in Bosnia Warm to Their Mission

U.S. Col. Mike Scaparrotti remembers overseeing a minesweeping effort by Bosnian Serb and Muslim soldiers in a mountainous region where the adversaries had fought fiercely throughout their 3 1/2-year conflict.

The air was thick with animosity. The soldiers eyed each other suspiciously as they reluctantly approached.

“All of the sudden, a soldier from the B.H. [Bosnian] side screamed out, ‘Profesore!’ ” Scaparrotti recalled.

The commander on the Serbian side had been a high school teacher before the war, and the soldier on the Muslim side had been one of his students. As it turned out, three more of the Muslim soldiers had also been his students.

The tension dissolved and the wartime enemies embraced each other and started talking. They separated only when Scaparrotti said that it was time for them to go back to their respective camps.

“In a two-hour period, they put a lot behind them,” said the colonel, who commands the 3rd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Combat Team.

The episode was one of many experiences over the last several weeks that have proved to Scaparrotti the value of the U.S. role in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission.

“The Americans are doing a lot of good here,” he said. “Our presence is making a lot of difference. If it’s going to be a lasting change, it’s too early to know.”

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When they left their bases in the United States, Germany and Italy, many of the U.S. troops bound for a yearlong mission in war-ravaged Bosnia-Herzegovina shared their nation’s suspicions about the futility of the mission and deep doubts that peace is possible in the former Yugoslav federation.

But more than a month into their tours here, many of the officers and enlisted men and women have become enthusiasts for the mission, and some even have started to believe that their legacy may be a lasting peace.

Their opinions have changed as they’ve watched families move back into damaged houses in long-vacant neighborhoods and seen empty streets come to life with shoppers and children sledding and playing outdoors.

The news of the first American fatality of the mission has not dampened the troops’ optimism.

Sgt. 1st Class Donald A. Dugan, 38, died Saturday north of here. Initial reports said he was killed when he apparently stepped on a mine, but there has been some speculation that he died after picking up a piece of ammunition that then blew up in his hand. The Pentagon said Monday that it did not yet know what killed Dugan and was not likely to until the investigation is complete.

Dugan’s fellow soldiers said they were saddened by his death but that it did not change their opinions about the peacekeeping effort because they had expected some fatalities. “I don’t think it will change our attitudes about our mission,” said Staff Sgt. Jeff McCorquodale, 35, of Anderson, S.C. “I believe what we’re doing here is important and necessary.”

The troops’ faith in their mission stands in sharp contrast to the skepticism back home, and they know it.

“I have a more positive attitude about peace taking hold now that we’ve been here for several weeks,” said 1st Lt. Sava Marinkovich, 24, of Chicago.

Marinkovich, whose parents emigrated from the Yugoslav federation and who speaks fluent Serbo-Croatian, has a different perspective from that of many other enlisted soldiers. He has been translating for his superiors, including Scaparrotti, when they meet with local commanders, and he has been able to talk easily with civilians.

“From the news at home, the impression you get is that there’s no chance,” he said. “But the people here really want peace, and I think there’s been progress made.”

For Spc. Chris Dobbins of West Memphis, Ark., the only thing worse than deploying to Bosnia on his 22nd birthday was seeing the place that he would call home for a year: a muddy lot on what was the main street of the village of Ulice, in northeastern Bosnia.

Next door to the camp were the remains of the heavily shelled elementary school, and surrounding it were burned homes and stores.

But several weeks into his mission, Dobbins sounded like a recruitment advertisement for volunteers for the peacekeeping force.

“We’re doing something important here,” said Dobbins, who drives a Humvee for a colonel who has been meeting with local Bosnian Serb commanders and ensuring that they comply with the Dayton, Ohio, peace accord reached last year. “I’ve seen a lot more than the rest of the guys because I ride with the colonel. Your heart has to go out to some of these people. I honestly do believe we should have come.”

Dobbins said he met a local teenager who spoke English.

“A 13-year-old named Eddie started talking to me. He said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here, because now we have peace.’ It made me feel good about coming over here. I know if it was me and my house and my country, I would want someone to help me. Who else is there to call but the United States?” Dobbins said.

Although the soldiers know that peace will not come easily to the Balkans, some American forces are actively trying to build trust.

A civil affairs unit based in Ulice has been meeting with local people, encouraging contacts between Muslim and Serbian communities in the zone of separation, the area under the control of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led forces.

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Before the war, the Muslim village of Satorovice and the Serbian village of Dubravice Gornje were friendly neighboring communities. During the war, the front line separated the villages and warfare raged between them.

Over the last few weeks, Sgt. Gilbert Shatto has met with leaders of both villages a few times, prodding them to renew their ties. Thanks to his efforts, the villages have agreed to have a social gathering as soon as Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, is over.

“It is still in the infant stages,” Shatto said. “But we’re hoping the two villages will create a trickle-down effect. If they can do it, why not the cities?”