Call from Kuwait:
Rich Heine's Camp Target of Iraqi Scud
by Judy Silberstein
 (March
20, 2003) At 8:30 this morning, Larchmont Fire Department
personnel were nervously monitoring the television news for
updates from the Iraqi warfront, where colleague Rich Heine
is deployed as a medical corpsman with the Naval Reserves.
Suddenly, the t.v. showed an Iraqi Scud missile exploding
right where they had last caught sight of Heine during a weekend
interview with Larchmont resident and Channel Two newsman
Lou Young. Just as they began to fear the worst, the phone
rang. To Captain Tom Andersen’s amazement, it was Rich
Heine calling from Kuwait to let them know he was safe.
He had witnessed the shelling and bombardment in Iraq and
Kuwait that began yesterday morning. For the moment, though,
he was out of harm's way.
"It’s shocking," said Captain Andersen, Heine's
fire department colleague and childhood friend. "We were
watching the attack and he calls up on the phone. Can you
imagine that happening in World War II?"
The firehouse has been keeping close tabs on Heine via e-mail,
cellphones, television and letters. Captain Andersen had last
spoken with his friend on St. Patrick’s Day, but Heine
had warned that he would be incommunicado for the foreseeable
future as his unit prepared for the next phase of the war
with Iraq.
 The
Larchmont Fire Department had already been surprised when
they caught sight of Heine being interviewed from Kuwait by
CBS newsman Lou Young. Young had known Heine was being deployed
to Kuwait, but never imagined he would bump into the fellow
Larchmonter when he was sent to the region to cover the war
for Channel Two.
It was just a fluke that the two men found each other. It
was also a fluke that Heine found the phones still working
this morning. “It’s like a ghost town here,”
said Heine, describing how most of the soldiers have already
moved on. For the moment that means no lines for the telephones.
Heine was anxious to allay everyone’s fears for his
safety and to thank Andersen for the two large boxes from
home. Heine’s friends and family have been sending a
barrage of mail, but Andersen’s packages are the only
ones to arrive so far. Newspapers, food, baby wipes, and assorted
other supplies from Larchmont are now in the Kuwaiti desert
with Heine.
The fifth graders at Chatsworth Avenue School are also concerned
about Heine and are starting a letter-writing project. Principal
Jane Hand called today to get an address so the children can
communicate with Heine who grew up in Larchmont and graduated
from Chatsworth School.
One Chatsworth student has already heard from Kuwait. When
fourth grader Paul Andersen leaves for school tomorrow morning,
he’ll be carrying a special letter to share with his
class. The letter is the first he's received from his godfather,
Rich Heine.
Photo of Lou Young from CBS
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