14th Quartermaster Detachment - Response To Attack

Response To Attack

No community suffered a greater loss during Operation Desert Storm than Greensburg a Southwestern Pennsylvania town of 18,000 near Pittsburgh. Once word of the attack reached Pennsylvania, the 99th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM), parent unit of the 14th, began a 24 hour-a-day vigil at the Greensburg Reserve Center to assist family members in their pain and grief. The 99th ARCOM and the 1st Army set up a casualty assistance center in town manned with chaplains, counselors, social workers and representatives from several federal agencies. They also assisted family members with visits to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Local citizens unselfishly volunteered to assist in these efforts.

Pennsylvania's governor declared a week of mourning and ordered flags on all state buildings to be lowered to half mast.

A community memorial service was held on 2 March 1991. Over 1,500 citizens attended, filling the First Presbyterian Church and its adjoining grounds. Local ministers, the mayor, the Governor of Pennsylvania and the Secretary of the Army honored the members of the 14th Quartermaster Detachment killed in the missile attack.

"They were all of us," said Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, "a high school football star, a lover of country music, future homemakers of America, secretaries and salesmen, hunters and fishermen, postal workers and volunteer firemen, friends and lovers, fathers, sons, brothers, and two of our daughters."

Bright yellow ribbons decorated the windows of homes and stores in Greensburg, but there were also black ribbons and wreaths lining the streets in remembrance of the 13 soldiers who gave their lives in the service of their country.