Desert Shield

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Phyllis J. Wilson, who served as a voice intercept officer and is president of the Military Women’s Memorial.

This week’s America250 salute is Navy Veteran Sunita Williams, who served as a Gulf War helicopter pilot before becoming a NASA astronaut.

In celebration of National Park Week, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran and National Park Service Director Charles F. Sams III. Sams served as mission planner during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran John David Perez, who retired after 30 years as a master chief petty officer.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Marine Corps Veteran Brian L. Lane, who fought in the Battle of Kuwait International Airport during Desert Storm.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran Charles Altman, who served as a flight officer, attaché and educator during his nearly 30-year career.

On the anniversary of the Desert Storm ground war start, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran James Douglas Higginbotham, a communication specialist.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army and Marine Corps Veteran John A. Quinlan, who served during Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

During Operation Desert Storm, there was an anthem that came to define the war: Lee Greenwood's country song "God Bless the U.S.A." When Greenwood originally released the song in 1984, it was moderately successful. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart July 28, 1984. However, the song took on a renewed life during Operation Desert Storm.

During Desert Storm, there were many faces of the war. […]

When Air Force Veteran Greg Feest took off in his F-117 Jan. 16, 1991, there was a 50/50 chance he wasn’t coming back. Iraq was one of the most heavily defended airspaces in history. According to the Gulf War Air Power Survey, there were 972 anti-aircraft artillery sites, 2,404 guns and 6,100 mobile guns. There were also surface-to-air missiles: 6,500 SA-7s, 400 SA-9s, 192 SA-13s, and 288 SA-14s. Pilots spent months planning operations, developing routes and making target lists during Operation Desert Shield. During that planning, the numbers were grim. For the 12 F-117s that left Jan. 16, commanders said six might not return. Most spouses didn’t know when the Desert Storm air war started and watched the TV coverage from the U.S. Bridget McGovern, Feest’s wife and also an Air Force Veteran, knew hours before. She watched from a command center at their base in Saudi Arabia.

On their second mission during Operation Desert Storm, the crew of an AC-130H gunship, call sign Ghost 02, flew a mission that none of them should have lived to tell. Flying into Iraqi airspace, the 14 men aboard destroyed a command and control center, then evaded three surface-to-air missiles through death-defying maneuvers in the lumbering, four-propeller aircraft. The crew’s actions followed their aircraft commander’s first and last rule: all 14 men come home alive.