Panama bombing injures Mainer

PANAMA CITY, Panama — A Maine man who was one of 16 U.S. servicemen injured during a grenade attack on a Panama City discotheque Friday night was reported in satisfactory condition Sunday. Army Spec. Anthony B. Ward, 21, of Houston, died of his injuries Saturday.

Airman 1st Class Joseph D. Pelletier, 20, of Bucksport, is recuperating at Gorgas Hospital in Panama City after suffering a severed Achilles’ tendon and artery during the blast. Five other servicemen remained hospitalized in satisfactory condition, a military spokesman said.

Twelve Panamanians also were injured in the attack.

“I’m doing just fine now, a little sore is all,” Pelletier said during a telephone interview from the U.S. military hospital Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses said two men yelling, “Long live Noriega!” threw a grenade through a glass wall of the disco, My Place, at about 11:30 p.m., then sped away in a car. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. It was the first such attack on U.S. soldiers in Panama since the Dec. 20 invasion that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Pelletier said he and other servicemen were sitting in the disco Friday evening, waiting for the midnight curfew. As the lights were turned out, he and others stood up, only to be knocked to the floor by the blast.

Pelletier said he then noticed a warm feeling in his legs and saw blood oozing from his sneakers. A bystander removed Pelletier’s shoes and socks and made a tourniquet with his socks, he said. He was given a ride to the hospital by a civilian. Pelletier said he also received “nicks and dents” on his legs from the grenade shrapnel.

Although Pelletier said he might return to Maine within the next couple of weeks on convalescent leave, he said he was not overly eager to leave Panama City, and considers the injuries a part of the risk inherent in serving with the military.

“I’m not any more scared now than before,” he said. “This stuff happens.”

Still, Pelletier predicted that Friday’s attack on American servicemen would not be the last. The bars have been closed, he said, and an assault on a restaurant could be next.

“This is an unfortunate incident that mars the heroic steps the people of Panama are taking in building democracy,” said a White House statement from Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater.

Panamanian police said they had questioned several witnesses to the bombing but announced no arrests.

“We ask Panamanian citizens to free their society of these types of terrorists and criminals,” Maj. Gen. Marc Cisneros, commander of the U.S. Army South, said Saturday. “We must work together to bring these criminals to justice.”

Southern Command officials and the head of Panama’s Judicial Technical Police met Saturday to discuss the case.

Although organized resistance to the American invasion died out quickly and Noriega’s Defense Forces have been disbanded, Panamanian officials have expressed concern that paramilitary groups Noriega organized could resurface.