THE GULF WAR: The Battle Front : Warding Off the Chill

A U.S. Army M-1A1 tank crew in northern Saudi Arabia was enjoying extra protection from bone-chilling desert weather--until their sergeant decided it wasn’t a good idea to SLEEP IN BODY BAGS. For two weeks, three of the four crew members put their sleeping bags inside the forest-green nylon bags, which kept them dry in rain and blocked the cold night winds. But their sergeant finally said he had “bad feelings” about what they were doing and took the bags away. Only one crew member had balked in the first place. “Body bags are meant for people who don’t get up,” said Specialist Jerry Keymon, 29, of Brown County, Ind. “I was raised that you don’t get into no body bag unless you’re dead,” he added with a laugh.