Show A2 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday April Q America 2 2003 at war Letters give families one last memory By Chelsea J Carter Associated Press Writer and reflection For others they are mementos to be shared years from now when small children have grown or when somebody asks about a son or daughter lost in battle “They're a gift I guess” said Rosacker’s father Navy Command Master Chief Petty Officer Rod Rosacker Of Bremerton Wash “Something to remember him by something to share” Most letters are filled with descriptions of camp life and horrendous sandstorms Some contain wishes for CDs and candy All offer declarations of love wishes for quick reunions and an understanding of the danger ahead Rosa Gonzalez said the let The letters arrived regularly from Marine CpI Randy Rosacker Some were homemade postcards fashioned from empty containers of prepackaged food Others were longer private thoughts from a son in Kuwait to a family awaiting hisreturn They were his last words from San The Diego was killed March 23 in an ambush near Nasiriyah Iraq For some the last letters of those killed in the war have become a source of comfort full of words of love gratitirde ters from her son Marine Cpl Jorge Gonzalez gave her a sense of peace ami that nothing was left unsaid “He didn’t hold back anything Everything he felt he would tell me” she said - A letter from Gonzalez 20 arrived at his parents' Rialto Calif home two days after his March 23 death Written in Spanish while he was still ip a desert camp the letter contained good news — and a wish He had just spoken to his wife by phone and learned about the birth of their son “If you can wait a little ' longer we’ll see each other in summer God willing” he wrote Looking at the letter with her son's neat handwriting his mother said “I was waiting for you my love” Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr 25 sent his mother in Little Rock Ark a letter preparing her for the worst “Mom I love you and don’t be afraid if I don’t return realize I’m in heaven wife God” he wrote Johnson’s mother Jana Norfleet said her son’s letter has comforted ha since she learned of his March 25 death “He was kind of trying to prepare me He said go on and be happy" she said Wade Lieseke almost See LETTERS on A7 Soldiers prepare to battle heat J tiff A Q : AP photo Letters from Cpl Randall Rosacker inducing a postcard written on a Meals Ready to Eat carton lies on a sofa at his father's Silverdale Wash home on Thursday Rod Rosacker Marine Corps son was one of nine Marines Idled March 23 2003 in fighting near Nasiriyah Iraq Information minister speaks for Saddam KUWAIT CITY (AP) — For battle-wear- y troops already two war weeks into a one mote deadly challenge still looms — the desert heal With April and its temperatures marking the start of summer troops already loaded down with packs weigh- ing up to 100 pounds will face ' heat as another element of the war Temperatures in Baghdad and southern Iraq were expected to reach the 90s by Thurs- day By June temperatures should break 100 by July it could reach 120 degrees “Heat is a factor like an enemy position is a factor” said US Marine Maj David C Andersen “That is simply something you have to take into account" The soaring temperatures and unforgiving weather may prove to be the ultimate test of the military's training and technology US military planners have been carefully factoring in the hostile realities of the desert environment: unrelentariding heat throat-parchiness and blinding sandstorms Though they insist it doesn't change their ultimate timetable smart commanders know that weather can become an important ally or enemy Last week blinding sandstorms that dropped visibility to a few feet slowed the US infantry’s advance toward Baghdad Intense heat could force military commanders to adjust their strategy full-fledg- ed ee AP photo A US soldier draws a picture while waiting in a cockpit of an armored vehicle central Iraq on Monday in the suburbs of Najaf Ground forces attack By David Espo AP Special Correspondent Army ground forces attacked Republican Guard units Tuesday near Karbala scarcely 5Q miles from Baghdad part of around-the-cloc- k combat pointing toward an assault on the capital An American POW was rescued in Iraq Defense officials said Army units attacked elements of the Medina Division of the Republican Guard in the clash near Karbala hitting an elite Iraqi force weakened by heavy air bombardment over several days Saddam — through a spokesman — summoned his country to a “jihad” or holy war against the invaders But American and British officials used the occasion to raise fresh doubts about the fate of a man seen in public only on videotape since the war began The attack on forces near Karbala marked the first major ground battle ag&inst Saddam's Republican Guard and capped a day of aggressive American and British ' military actions Marines staged a nighttime raid on Nasiriyah a column of amphibious assault vehicles rolling into town under a moonless sky — and finding Iraqis had abandoned a huge walled police compound ' In Basra a city of 1 3 million warplanes dropped 300-pouand 1000-poun- d laser-guidbombs on an Iraqi intelligence complex in an effort to dislodge die-hadefenders who have kept British forces at bay for days “What you’re seeing today on the battlefield in Iraq is a continuation of propping the battlefield for a major encounter with the Republican Guard” said Navy Capt Frank Thorp ed rd BAGHDAD Iraq (AP) — Iraqi television said Saddam Hussein would address the nation Tuesday night but the speech was delivered instead by his information minister — an unexplained absence that comes at a time of increased speculation about Saddam’s health and leadership Instead Iraqi viewers saw Information Minister Mohammed Saeed read a speech in Saddam’s name to rally them to a holy war against US-le- d forces It is not unusual for Iraqi media to say that Saddam would speak only to have others appear instead He did not deliver an announced speech last year explaining his side of the Kuwait invasion and he usually saves his televised appearances for major events The United States began bombarding Iraq on March 20 Saddam was shown on television after that but has made no live appearances Even in normal times however live speeches and appearances by Saddam were a rarity Saddam’s most recent appearance on Iraqi television was broadcast Monday night — footage showing him with his sons Odai and Qusai at a meeting of top military com- - mantlets But like other broadcasts there was no way of independently determining when the footage was shot The White House raised new doubts about Saddam’s status An Fleischer spokesman for President Bush said Tuesday the administration has nothing “hard Concrete to report” but questioned why the regime has not offered proof Saddam still lives “We don’t know if he is alive or if he is dead” he said Fleischer added the feet that “he failed to show up for his scheduled appearance today raises additional questions” Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld also asked: “Where are Iraq’s leaders?” Iraqi leaders insist Saddam is alive and directing his country’s war effort: Saddam’s speech also was filled wife unusually religious rhetoric for the leader of a secular socialist state invoking God 18 times referring to jihad or holy war and urging the Iraqi people to not give up the fight until US-le- d forces “withdraw from the lands of the Muslims” Such language is a clear sign that in its fight for survival the regime is trying to rally Iraqis through Islam onurn See ATTACK on A7 House Senate panels OK war funds anti-terroris- m WASHINGTON (AP) — The House and Senate Appro- priations committees approved similar bills Tuesday containing nearly $80 billion for ini- tial costs of the war with Iraq and other efforts including aid for the m AP photo Conscientious objection Marine Corps reservist Stephen Funk second from left with 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