JACKSON NATIVE HELPING BOSNIAN MISSION AT HUNGARIAN STAGING SITE

GIs put their gear onto cargo trucks at the staging area in Taszar, Hungary. This former Warsaw Pact country is the host to people and supplies moving back and forth between Germany and Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Photo by Michael Tolzmann)

TASZAR, Hungary -- For most people in this rural farm village nestled just north of the Balkans, American GIs rolling through their streets is a pretty amazing sight. For most of their lives, the red flag of communism, and images of goose stepping soldiers, food shortages and a lack of personal freedoms have been the norm.

Today, these senior veterans of the Cold War see an unbelievably different picture. Huge trucks carrying American soldiers and supplies rumble over the cobblestone streets alongside Hungarian vehicles in a scene that just six short years ago would have been labeled fantasy at best.

Army Sgt. Troy K. Mitchell, son of Bob and Mary Ann Mitchell, E. Main St., Jackson, plays a part in the transformation within this former Warsaw Pact country, as he and his fellow soldiers set the stage in Hungary in support of the NATO peace mission "Operation Joint Endeavor" in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Mitchell works in Hungary where just a few years ago, Soviet troops were based. This place is now buzzing with American GI activity at what is called the Intermediate Staging Base, Taszar, Hungary. Army soldiers going to Bosnia from Germany, or those headed from Bosnia back home, stop here for supplies and a place to rest. Mitchell's role helps make the Bosnian peace mission a successful one.

Mitchell is a nutrition care specialist with the 67th Combat Support Hospital, normally assigned in Wuerzburg, Germany. "I'm the non-commissioned officer in charge of nutrition care here at the hospital," explained Mitchell. "I make sure the patient gets the right foods, and I also make sure the hospital staff gets a good meal. I also set up diets for our regular and special patients," said Mitchell.

At the staging base, food, water, ammunition and fuel are stockpiled for the transient soldiers. Most soldiers deploying to Bosnia reach Hungary by plane, rail or bus. Here they marry up with their tanks, trucks and other vehicles before rolling them a half-day's drive into the nearby Bosnian Balkans. When finished with their mission in Bosnia, six to 12 months later, they head back to Hungary to drop off their vehicles and head back home.

For most of the transient troops, a few days at the staging base seems like the Army's version of life on easy street. They stay in tents with cots, eat regular hot meals, have telephones available to make calls home to loved ones, listen and watch Armed Forces Television and Radio, play billiards, and shop at a post exchange located in a nearby tent. Many of these amenities are not found at the outpost camps in Bosnia, where they have been, or are on their way to.

Life for Mitchell, though, is no party or easy street. His role is to help provide for and support this peace keeping mission.

"When I first arrived here, it was very cold," said Mitchell. "I spend a lot of my free time talking to my family, my wife Sheila, and my son Colby who is two. When I am not on the phone, I spend most of my time in the gym, and sometimes I play basketball," added Mitchell.

Even though life in Hungary today is becoming more and more westernized, and in some ways could be compared to places like Germany, the soldiers deployed here still miss something.

"I miss my family the most. It's hard not being able to see my son grow, to love my family, or to be there with them during the happy and sad times," said Mitchell.

For Mitchell and other soldiers stationed in Hungary, time away from loved ones and the comforts of home are temporary. But the peace and tranquility they bring to this part of Europe are likely to last for years to come.