SOLDIERS WERE READY TO FINISH JOB.

Byline: Douglas Willey

I was just returning from a deployment overseas in the summer of 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The guys in my antitank platoon were hungry to actually pull the trigger when the word filtered down that we were on alert status. Units had already started to deploy to the Persian Gulf from Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Base 29 Palms.

Volunteers were initially called to fully man the units that were being sent overseas. But in short order, the command structure began sending whole battalions, either by Navy ship or plane.

My unit left on the second buildup with the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade during the first part of December 1990. It took approximately 45 days to arrive in the northern Persian Gulf. The air war had already been launched from ground- and sea-based aircraft. My brigade was a mixture of active-duty and Marine Reserve units, but you really could not tell the difference. All of the Reserve personnel were very professional and well trained.

The ground war started on a chilly, wind-swept day. My unit's mission was to basically back up and support the main effort of attack into Kuwait, toward Kuwait City and the airport there.

We wore chemical-weapons suits during the campaign, as well as the usual flak vests, belt canteens and ammo pouches. The chemical suits were very bulky and cumbersome but, thankfully, the weather was relatively cool - a blessing that limited our heat casualties.

We received sporadic fire but saw very little direct combat. But throughout the countryside we saw the destruction of the air campaign and the fighting that had occurred before us. We passed thousands of Iraqi prisoners of war who were being herded to the rear area for interrogation.

As my unit made its way on to the airport, we met up with Iraqi soldiers fleeing the battles that were being waged there. We also engaged stragglers who wanted to make a last stand before they were either killed or surrendered.

When it was over and we got the word about the cease-fire, we all let out a sigh of relief. But we also wondered why the order didn't come to leave the airport and pursue the Iraqis into Iraq, to finish the job.

As a Desert Storm veteran, I often wonder why didn't we finish the job the first time? Although our goal was only to free Kuwait from Iraq's army, our victory felt a little hollow. We defeated Hussein's forces with overwhelming power and accomplished the U.N. mandate to remove the Iraqi army from Kuwait. But the cease-fire did not remove Hussein from power. In addition, he has still been able to use his helicopters against the Kurdish people in the north.

I was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1992. It has been more than 11 years since the end of the Persian Gulf War. I have gotten older and hopefully wiser. Hussein has remained in power, but September 11th has changed the world.

Saddam and his cohorts are a detriment to Western culture and to our way of life. They need to be removed. Hopefully, our allies will share the burden. But if it is left to the United States to do the job alone, so be it.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(color) Douglas Willey served in Desert Storm with the 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division as an anti-tank TOW missile gunner.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Willey