Remembering Desert Storm

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, April 29th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: helping a nation remember.

A new memorial opens later this year in Washington, D.C. It’s to honor the veterans from the First Gulf War, Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, a war that started after Iraq invaded Kuwait.

EICHER: The conflict was brief—it began in August of 1990, it was over by February of ‘91. It was a decisive military victory, widely supported at home and abroad. But it’s a war rarely spoken about, one that few Americans remember today. 

One veteran of that war set out to change that, and WORLD correspondent Jeff Palomino has the story.

BUSH: In the early morning hours of August 2, following negotiations and promises by Iraq’s dictator—Saddam Hussein—not to use force, a powerful Iraqi army invaded its trusting and much weaker neighbor, Kuwait.

JEFF PALOMINO: The year was 1990, and days later, President George H.W. Bush launched Operation Desert Shield. Over the next six months, roughly 600,000 U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East.

Matthew Walker, then a 20-year-old Marine Reservist, was one of them.

WALKER: We were told be prepared, we could get called up. And then Thanksgiving Day I got called that morning.

At the time, Iraq had the world’s 4th largest army, and the threat of chemical and biological weapons hung over the situation.

WALKER: They were telling us, this is the first war since Vietnam, so prepare to be there a long time. They were saying things like maybe as many as a third of you will not survive the war.

When the president’s deadline to withdraw from Kuwait passed, both Congress and the U.N. passed resolutions authorizing military force. 

On January 16, 1991 Operation Desert Storm began.

BUSH: Just two hours ago, Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. These attacks continue as I speak.

Six weeks of air attacks followed. Then, a ground campaign that lasted only 100 hours. And on February 27th, another announcement from the president:

BUSH: Kuwait is liberated. Iraq’s Army is defeated. Our military objectives are met.

To the world, it was a 100-hour victory. But to those who fought, it’s now a war at risk of being forgotten. 

Scott Stump served in the war, and he refused to let that happen. He decided a memorial in Washington D.C. would help the country remember.

STUMP: It dawned on me that many people in the United States fell into one of three categories with this time period, with this war.

Stump says the first people were those who had no recollection of the first Gulf War.

STUMP: The second group were the ones that said, "oh, that was a video game war and it was over before it started and nobody died," which obviously is not the case.

The third category was those who conflated the war with post 9-11 events. They either ignored or didn’t know that Desert Storm had a mission to liberate the citizens of Kuwait, a mission it accomplished.

Matthew Walker’s experience was the same. About ten years ago Walker visited a museum in D.C. with an exhibit on America’s wars.

WALKER: And when it got to Korea and then Vietnam, the next war that it mentioned was Iraq, Gulf War II. I was looking at my wife, go, "They skipped our war completely!"

The idea that the war could be forgotten troubled Scott Stump, but it also motivated him.

STUMP: I just felt like this was too important of a time in history to be relegated to a footnote in history. And I, I'm not an insider, I had no connections, had no rank, no influence whatsoever, but I just felt the call to do something.

Doing something would consume the next 16 years of his life. The first hurdle was getting legislation to build the memorial; that took almost three years. 

Next, an equally long fight over location, with Stump winning a spot on the national mall.

But perhaps the hardest obstacle was from people, including some members of Congress, who wondered why this war was even worthy of a memorial.

STUMP: First and foremost, I will say that you had almost 400 Americans who died. You can't forget that.

It also brought together 34 countries from five continents.

But, ultimately, in Stump’s view, most important is it helped America heal. Here, Stump cites a quote from President Bush that will be on one of the walls of the memorial.

BUSH: The brave men and women of Desert Storm accomplished more than even they may realize. They set out to confront an enemy abroad, and in the process, they transformed a nation at home.

STUMP: What the meaning of that is, is the fact that there was a hangover from Vietnam, and it was lingering…

Many Vietnam veterans returned home to find they were to blame for an unpopular and seemingly never-ending war. Instead of the hero’s welcome of previous generations, many Vietnam vets were treated with indifference, and some with hostility and rejection. 

Desert Storm changed that.

STUMP: The often repeated term in the American vernacular, "Thank you for your service," was born of Desert Storm. It was the reestablishment of the relationship between the American public and the military. And that legacy has benefited everyone who has put on a uniform post-Desert Storm.

When Stump got home from the war, his unit was asked to participate in a parade. They didn’t want to, but his commander said:

STUMP: Look, you're doing it. This is for the people. And I had no idea what he meant until he got up on the platform on the reviewing stand, and he dedicated that parade to the Vietnam veterans that never had one.

AUDIO: [Sound of construction]

Today, construction crews are busy at the memorial site. 

Funded entirely by private donations including a large amount from the Kingdom of Kuwait, the memorial will be two large desert sand-colored walls designed to create the feeling of being in large dunes. One wall is a panoramic laying out the different phases of the war, the other—a tribute to the international coalition. A bronze water feature will be in the middle. 

The dedication ceremony is set for October 24th.

STUMP: What would make me happy is if that people go there, they get inspired, they connect emotionally to what the story is, and then they subsequently dig in deeper as a result and they learn about all of the particulars.

Matthew Walker plans to visit the memorial next time he’s in DC.

WALKER: I think it's good to remember when there was something that everybody came together on, there was actual victory. And to remember a time when the whole world did come together against tyranny. That's a good thing.

A good thing that due to the perseverance of one man now stands not only to be remembered, but also never forgotten.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jeff Palomino in Washington, D.C.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.