U.S. Soldiers Who Served In El Salvador Seek Recognition

WASHINGTON - Greg Walker spent nearly 18 months in El Salvador in the 1980s training that country's army in its struggle with Marxist-led rebels. Shot at by snipers, the Green Beret sergeant also pursued guerrillas into the rugged volcanic mountains after they attacked his base camp.

Walker returned home unscathed. Army Sgt. Greg Fronius and Lt. Col. David Pickett weren't so lucky. Fronius, another Green Beret, was killed in 1987 while rallying Salvadorans in a counterattack against the guerrillas. Pickett, an Army helicopter pilot, was shot down by the rebels in 1991, then executed.

Now, years after hundreds of American soldiers served in El Salvador, Walker and others who survived are insisting they and their fallen comrades such as Fronius and Pickett receive the recognition long denied them because of what they call politics on the home front.

Specifically, they are looking for the Combat Infantryman Badge, one of the most prized possessions of a foot soldier. The badge, a musket bordered by a wreath, signifies that an infantry or Special Forces soldier came under fire.

Veterans of El Salvador have made little progress in their efforts to get the badge, as well as medals for heroism and meritorious service from the Army. The Pentagon won't acknowledge they were even in combat - even though they received combat pay.

"It's shameful," said Walker, now an Oregon writer who chronicles the exploits of the Green Berets. "All we want to do is see people taken care of properly."

Veterans who served in El Salvador between 1981 and the signing of a peace accord in 1992 say they are caught in a vise of politics and bureaucracy.

In the 1980s, amid a battle of wills between President Reagan and a Democratic-controlled Congress wary of U.S. involvement in El Salvador, the Pentagon assured lawmakers that the Americans serving there were advisers, not combatants.

Moreover, the Pentagon's regulations relating to combat service confer the distinction on Americans who fought in Grenada, Somalia and Panama - but ignore El Salvador, even though 21 Americans died there.

More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines served during the decade in El Salvador. Most were Army personnel. Of those, several hundred would likely be eligible for the Combat Infantryman Badge. About 85,000 Salvadorans on both sides were killed during the conflict.

Members of Congress have agreed with Walker, pressing Defense Secretary William Cohen to grant those soldiers the infantry badge, or its counterpart for medical personnel, the Combat Medic Badge.

Cohen is expected to receive his own internal report on the issue in about a month.

Lt. Col. Bill Harkey said there is no "paper trail" that explains denial of the infantry badge. It is this lack of a detailed explanation that particularly irritates veterans. The regulations say that an infantry or Special Forces soldier must be part of a unit smaller than a brigade and engaged in combat with the enemy.

One Army official, who asked not to be identified, said award of the badge is reserved for infantry soldiers whose mission is to engage in active combat with an armed enemy. "That was clearly not the primary purpose of those soldiers who served in El Salvador," he said.

Neither the Marines nor the Navy, which had far fewer personnel in El Salvador than the Army, have awarded their counterpart to the infantry badge, the Combat Action Ribbon. The Air Force has no similar award. Still, the Marines already have awarded Bronze Stars to those who performed in El Salvador and the Air Force has granted air medals to its fliers.

Last year Congress directed that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal be awarded to those who served in El Salvador. It was the only campaign medal ever legislated by Congress.