Transcript of "Guarding Bosnia: On Patrol" [S.Sgt. Alvin Sueper/Lincoln, NE] Yeh, it will be new territory for us. Talking to new people, getting to know new people. Looks like they're getting ready to move. [Mike Tobias/Reporting] Every morning patrols leave Camp McGovern, home to most of the soldiers in Task Force Huskers. The six-ton armed hum-vees head into the rolling hills carrying Nebraskans from many different walks of life - auto mechanics, salesmen, loan officers and college students. Now they're peacekeepers in war-torn northern Bosnia. The patrols constantly pass reminders of the bloodiest European war since World War II. [Lt.Col. Tim Kadavy/Task Force Huskers Commander] Our patrols are out there to have a presence. During the war everybody heard the term ethnic cleansing. If this city was determined to be one ethnic group, they pushed all the other ethnic groups out. So what came about is a divided country that lacked freedom of movement. People were scared to go in other parts of the country, or even to return to their homes, which they owned, because they worried about being killed. So what we do here is we provide that security so these people can move back to their homes and restart their lives. [Lt. Kyle Hildebrand/Gretna, NE] As a soldier here, we go to the villages, we go to the towns, we stop in the schools, we want people to know that we want a safe and secure environment, we're encouraging economic development, political development. We want people to progress to a point where everyone can live in harmony with one another. [Tobias] This patrol is working a new area. It used to be the responsibility of Russian soldiers who've now left SFOR. In the small town of Ciganluk they're greeted by kids who know the soldiers are armed with handfuls of huge tootsie rolls. They're also greeted by Dzevad Mujik, a Muslim and former major in the Bosnian army who fought against the Serbs during the war. [Sueper] Are there any problems in the area? [Mujik, through translator] There've been some things happening in the past, but right now all three sides are getting along good and everything's back to normal. [Tobias] Ciganluk sits near the Zone of Separation - the line drawn to end the war and divide the country into Serb and Muslim/Croat held territories. Fighting here was fierce. War wounds still mark the side of Mujik's house. [Mujik, through interpreter] Artillery pieces were falling all around on the road here. And it actually hit the house. It looked much worse than it looks now. But they repaired it. The back part of the house, part of it was blown away, actually. [Tobias] It's Mujik's day off from work, so he invites the soldiers to drink strong Bosnian coffee under his vine-covered trellis. It's an opportunity for the peacekeepers to learn about conditions and concerns in the village. [Mujik, through interpreter] Actually they found a mortar round the other day and they reported it to the police but it hasn't been moved yet. It's still up on the hill. [Hildebrand] We'll stop back in the next week some time to see if the police have picked it up. And if they haven't picked it up, we'll try to call and get someone that can take care of it. [Mujik, through interpreter] The reintegration is taking part pretty smoothly here. Like his neighbor, for example, works in the Serbian community. He's not having any problems. [Hildebrand] In any way that we can help you or you'd like us to stop by and do something just let us know anytime you see us and we'd be happy to do what we can. [Tobias] Before they leave, Mujik goes to his garage and brings a freshly-washed gift to the soldiers. [Tobias] What is that? [Hildebrand] It's a light anti-tank weapon. Just tell him what we'll do is we have our explosives team that comes and picks this up. This patrol can't take it cause they don't let us because we don't have the right kind of vehicle. [Tobias] As a neighbor serves the soldiers fresh strawberries, Mujik serves them ammunition and grenades stored in his garage. [Mujik, through interpreter] He said he used to be in the military and he's had much more stuff, but he turned most of it in a long time ago, and he just waited for a good occasion to get rid of the rest. [Tobias] The patrol stops on a road outside Ciganluk to count and sort their catch. [Hildebrand] We don't want to do it in there, in the town like that. It's just a little bit safer if something happened out here, and nothing happens this way. But mostly because they turn in weapons and ammunition, under the conditions of anonymity. They want to remain anonymous. And we don't want to advertise to all their neighbors that they've been holding illegal grenades for five years. [Sgt. Darren Thompson/Friend, NE] 683 rounds of 7.62, 3 rounds of 12.7 mm, 1 50 caliber round and 18 hand grenades. [Tobias] Hildebrand - a full-time guardsman - says this was just another morning on patrol. [Hildebrand] It's very typical in the aspect of somebody talking to you, inviting you in, coffee, juice, the conversation's typically somewhat the same. That guy was probably a little more educated than your average citizen I think. After they get to know you I guess it was typical in the fact that somebody will turn in something, whether it be a few rounds that they found, or a hand grenade, or try to turn in a bunch of weapons. It's really kind of unbelievable. [Tobias] Task Force Huskers has focused on disarming Bosnia since they took over peacekeeping in this area in February. That same week two local boys were killed playing with a hand grenade. [T.Kadavy] That type of thing, you're not ready for. So one of the things that we said we were going to make sure we were successful at is getting the message out that hand grenades, and assault rifles and military weapons don't belong in the homes, particularly where they've got these young children. [Tobias] In downtown Brcko - a city about the size of Grand Island near Camp McGovern - soldiers set-up a weapons collection point. It's part of a project called Harvest Rewards. Bosnians exchange guns and munitions for raffle tickets. 5 tickets for a weapon, 3 for each grenade, 1 for 20 rounds of ammo. The raffle winner got a new car. [Sgt. Robert McMullen/Arlington, NE] We got like 13 hand grenades in here of different types. We got some concussion, some fragmentation, we even got one of these they call a helmet knocker today. When you've got people rolling up in their little Volkswagon golfs, pulling stuff out of their backseats to give it to you, it just blows you mind to think that they have this stuff in their house. [Tobias] There are lighter sides to being on patrol. It's field day at the school in Gornji Zovik. First through 8th grade students celebrate the last day of school with a festival. [Tomislav Slovanjrush/Gornji Zovik School Principal] I'm very happy because I see you here. [Tobias] Principal Thomas Slovanjrush invited Task Force Huskers soldiers to the festival. In the school's cafeteria they snack on meat and cheese, and listen to the educator talk about conditions at the mostly Croat school. [Slovanjrush, through interpreter] Here we try to make things better for kids, but right now it's pretty hard. [Tobias] Soldiers visit schools regularly. Joining volleyball, soccer and basketball games helps build relationships with the next generation of Bosnians. [Sgt. Zachary Owens/Omaha, NE] We got our butts kicked by eighth and ninth graders, or eight and nine year olds. [Owens] People are great around here. They don't treat us any different than if we were in American, so, like I said it's a really good place to be. [Sanja Knezevic/SFOR Interpreter] Kids are probably the friendliest. They always come up to us, wave, try to talk, because they have English in schools now. [Tobias] Soldiers get to know a lot of these kids at school. During the school year they visit classrooms, teaching them to recognize and stay away from land mines and unexploded ordnance. These deadly remnants of war are everywhere in Bosnia. That includes this road not far from a busy shopping area. [S.Sgt. Joe Summers/Alexandria, NE] We were told the road had been cleared. But as you can see that stake does mark a mine. [Tobias] There are more than a million known land mines left in Bosnia. [Summers] There's no mapping done to these minefields, so we don't know how they put them in. If they're buried, if they're on top. If they're hanging from trees, and we can't detect them. As you can see the foliage that's out there, almost makes it virtually impossible to go in and clean. It's very hard work to do. But we try to find them. [Tobias] Specialist Mathew Severin spots a UXO - unexploded ordnance - hidden in the grass. They'll call in specially-trained engineers to deal with it. [Spec. Mathew Severin/Lincoln, NE] Not really sure what that is. Could be homemade. Looks like a UXO just missing the detonator or fuse, whatever you'd like to call it, mainly the fuse is what it's called. [Tobias] Getting around may pose the greatest challenge - and danger - for soldiers on patrol. Many Bosnian roads are in horrible shape. [Hildebrand] There's a lot of unimproved roads that get to a majority of the rural populations, so it requires us to go off the road quite a bit and sometimes it can be an adventure in itself, just the driving. [Tobias] Hi-tech GPS technology inside the hum-vees doesn't help when a mapped road suddenly ends at a farmer's fence. Then there are Bosnian drivers. This white van trying to pass hum-vees barely avoids a head-on collision. Accidents are common on these narrow roads. [T.Kadavy] You'll be driving and you'll have a Mercedes buzz by you at 100 km an hour, then you'll come upon a horse and cart, then they'll be people walking down the middle of the road, then you'll have these little, look like lawnmower engines, people sitting on a lawnmower pulling a trailer. It's very difficult to drive when you have all those different type of conditions. [Tobias] One accident claimed the life of a soldier in July. 21-year-old Specialist Blake Kelly was killed on patrol when his hum-vee was hit by an oncoming truck. Kelly was a Southeast Community College student from Shelby. His wife is expecting a baby this month. Three other soldiers and an interpreter suffered minor injuries. [Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke/NE National Guard Adjutant General] It was unavoidable. It was a truck, a local truck going around a turn that lost control and hit the vehicle, the hum-vee, that the soldiers were in. Spec. Kelly was the driver and unfortunately he was the one that took the brunt of the force. [Tobias] This month the soldiers of Task Force Huskers go out on patrol for the final time. They leave hoping their presence - and the ultimate sacrifice made by one young man - has made a difference. And hoping that the next generation of Bosnians can live in peace. Next week we'll show you what life is like for soldiers at Camp McGovern...and how they cope with the time away from loved ones. Reporting for Statewide from Bosnia, I'm Mike Tobias.