December 28, 1995
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT)
From Correspondent Jim Clancy
ZUPANJA, Croatia (CNN) -- Flood waters took U.S. soldiers completely by surprise in the middle of the night Thursday, sending some 200 U.S. Army engineers running for higher ground.
The Sava River rose about two feet overnight, submerging most
of the previous day's work by U.S. soldiers attempting to
build a bridge on the river and roll heavy armor into Bosnia
for the NATO peacekeeping mission.
Army engineers had remained on the scene because predictions Wednesday were that the river would get no higher. But, in the dead of night, those predictions proved wrong. By Thursday morning, the engineers' small tent city was flooded and it was too late to retreat gracefully.
"The dike broke. At about 3:45 a.m., we got a call to wake
up and start moving out," said Sgt. Joseph Lewis. "Water
just started coming through the tents. ... (We were) trying
to save anything before it all got lost down the river." (179K AIFF sound or 179K WAV sound)
Many were surprised by the swiftness of the Sava. "It was scary last night," said Spec. Stephanie Jefferson. "We come out -- no water. Five minutes later -- water up to your knees." (94K AIFF sound or 94K WAV sound)
The sections of bridge already constructed weren't affected
by rising water, but the road built to lead to the river now
leads nowhere. But despite the problems posed by the
flooding and indications that it may not have reached its
worst, the work will continue, one way or another. The
military is considering its options and keeping an eye on new
reports of flooding upriver.
"Apparently they're going to keep building," said Pfc. Tom Strait. "As the army phrase goes, 'suck it up and drive on,' so we'll see what happens."
Among the men and women who are worked diligently only to see
their efforts submerged, there is understandable frustration.
"At this point, with all the water coming through, all the
work we've done ... it's all washed away now," said Lewis.
A team sent from U.S. headquarters across the river in Tuzla
predicted that, despite the setback, the bridge will be built
soon.
There has been no slowdown in the movement of troops and equipment to the work site. Travel time from staging areas even as far north as Hungary remain only 12 hours, so the Army was determined to keep moving its armor and forces into position.
Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Bosnjaci, a Croatian soldier fired 30 rounds from an automatic gun outside a U.S. camp late Wednesday.
No one was hurt. U.S. forces did not return fire, said NATO spokesman Maj. William Pijters. U.S. officials called the shooting "celebratory fire."
In Sarajevo, Bosnian Serbs and government troops left key front-line positions in the capital late Wednesday, completing the first phase of the Balkan peace accord.
The French commander, Brig. Gen. Louis Zeller, said that the former combatants pulled back from about 40 positions in and around Sarajevo -- including bunkers, trenches and buildings.
Zeller said that French troops had met no hostile action during the withdrawal.
International forces are now patrolling the former front lines of the three-and-a-half year war.
In Banja Luka, a Bosnian Serb leader said Thursday that peace is threatened by post-war reconstruction plans that he said favor the Muslim-Croat federation over the Serb-held region.
Nikola Koljevic, vice-president of the Bosnian Serb republic, told Reuters it appeared the Serbs would not receive their fair share of reconstruction assistance. "As I saw the documents from the World Bank, so far we haven't had fair treatment for reconstruction between the federation and the Republic of Srpska," Koljevic said.
The peace accord signed in Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month promised reconstruction aid to rival factions to rebuild the former Yugoslavia after four years of war.
Major powers are demanding the factions show progress in human rights to qualify for financial aid. And the Dayton agreement also requires that those accused of war crimes -- including Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic -- quit public office.
Koljevic criticized linking human rights issues to reconstruction aid, which he said amounts to political pressure to single out the Serb leadership for punishment.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
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