A memorial service was held for an unaccompanied veteran U.S Navy airman Sammy Drew Hill. Volunteers and community members gathered to make his funeral service a memorable one.
LAMPASAS â Former U.S. Army tank gunner Keith Callis remembers heading into combat during the 1990-91 Desert Storm campaign to push Iraq out of Kuwait after the late Saddam Husseinâs forces invaded the neighboring Middle East country and defied worldwide calls to withdraw.
âThe ground war starts and weâre rolling along blowing things up with the (M-1 Abrams) tanks, and these guys (Iraqis) are walking at us with their hands up. We just told them to keep walking,â Callis, a 56-year-old Lampasas resident and native of Corpus Christi, Texas, said.
âWe went in as far as Kuwait City. Remember the Highway of Death (six-lane Highway 80 between Kuwait and Iraq)? There are mines on the ground, and weâre just straddling those so we wonât get blown up. I see this guy on top of a BTR-50 (Russian armored personnel carrier), fueling it up, and I said to our tank commander, âHey, sir, thereâs a guy right there.â