Veterans and Families Mark 35th Anniversary of Desert Storm Scud Strike That Killed 13 14th Quartermaster Soldiers
A string of remembrance events this week marked 35 years since a Scud missile struck the 14th Quartermaster Detachment’s barracks during desert storm, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 43. The ceremonies brought together survivors, family members and Army officials to lay wreaths, light candles and recount the day a unit of 69 water purification specialists suffered the greatest allied losses in that campaign.
14th Quartermaster Detachment Memorial — Desert Storm
The detachment arrived in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia on Feb. 19, 1991 and, six days later at 8: 40 p. m. local time (12: 40 p. m. EST), an Iraqi Al Hussein ballistic missile penetrated Patriot defenses and struck the unit’s billets. The explosion killed 13 soldiers and wounded 43; overall, 81 percent of the detachment’s 69 members were either killed or wounded in the strike.
That sequence of events was the central focus of a wreath-laying ceremony held on Feb. 25, 2026 at the 14th QM Det. Memorial by the Quartermaster School’s Petroleum, Water and Energy Department and its Water and Hygiene Training Division. Staff Sgt. Zedekiah Evanson, who served as master of ceremonies, described the unit’s mission to supply potable water and underscored the cost paid by those specialists: “These professionals were called to supply the most precious commodity in the battlefield: potable water, ” he said, noting their readiness to work in the arid environment.
What makes this notable is how quickly the detachment moved from arrival to catastrophe: the unit had been deployed only six days when the barracks were struck, compounding the human toll and marking the single largest set of casualties suffered by any allied unit during the campaign.
Family Remembrances at Hempfield and Fort Lee
More than 100 relatives, veterans, soldiers and an honor guard gathered at an Army Reserve Center in Hempfield’s Carbon section for an hourlong memorial that mirrored traditions at Fort Lee. A table displayed 13 candles and photos of the fallen; family members poured sand into a shared jar that was later scattered on the monument, a ritual meant to bind personal grief to public memory.
Several family members described private altars of remembrance. Darlene Mayes keeps a curio cabinet of her daughter Christine’s belongings and said Christine’s engagement ring was buried with her after the Feb. 25, 1991 attack. Connie Clark maintains a similar cabinet for her daughter Beverly S. Clark and noted that Beverly’s memory shapes family gatherings. Barbara Keough holds her son Frank’s uniform, medals and Purple Heart; Darla Madison has a wall devoted to her son Anthony’s medals and photographs.
At Fort Lee, 14th QM veteran Angela Betton, who survived the blast with a severely broken leg and later underwent emergency surgery and extended care in Germany and the United States, served as keynote speaker at the memorial. Betton said she continues to attend remembrance events to keep the names and sacrifices of her comrades alive. Col. Kevin Agness, addressing attendees, urged three concrete actions for those gathered: provide spiritual and moral support to the living, care for the wounded, and honor the fallen through ceremonies that preserve dignity.
Legacy, Numbers and Immediate Impact
The immediate consequences of the strike were stark and measurable: 13 dead, 43 wounded, unit strength of 69 and 81 percent of members killed or wounded. Beyond the tally, the event reshaped families and careers. The detachment’s mission—water purification for troops—was highlighted repeatedly at both ceremonies as a reminder that logistical specialties face frontline risk.
Maj. Robert Prah, executive officer for the 327th Quartermaster Battalion, framed the commemorations as more than ritual. He said the gatherings ensure sacrifices are taught and carried forward by successive generations of soldiers, turning grief into institutional memory. The memorials used candles, photographs and the scattering of sand to translate private loss into a permanent public marker.
The timing matters because the anniversaries occur at a moment when survivors, veterans and family members are actively transmitting first-hand accounts: the ceremonies reinforced immediate acts of remembrance—wreath-laying, speeches, personal mementos—that together preserve both the numerical record and the human stories behind the numbers.
Attendance, first-hand testimony from survivors like Betton, the participation of command leaders and the deliberate memorial rites combined to ensure the February events honored the fallen while signaling ongoing responsibility to the wounded and their families.
