19 years ago this weekend...
 

I'm remembering what I and many others were doing 19 years ago this weekend. The war in the Gulf started and we were pretty busy. I think remembering this helps me to appreciate the things that I usually take for granted. Remembering how everything was almost taken from us helps me to appreciate my life and those around me.

David French @ CNN
Remember every detail

I was over an ex-gf's house getting a BJ when the first bombs fell on Baghdad, live on TV (the bombs, not me, hehehe).

(True story)

Wow, it's been that long?I watched it on tv as well.

I was home after being laid off at Christmas. This was the company that I went back to work for and spent 18 years at before being laid off last February.


Thanks for your service, Art!!.

My dad was glued to the TV, always waiting to see if some temple in Jerusalem would get blown up by the Iraqis or not. He wouldn't get off the TV either when Hussein invaded Kuwait the summer before either. I remember lots of green night vision videos on the news and oil fires afterwords.

I was signing papers on my first house the day of the first strikes. It all worked out, but man, I wondered just what I had gotten myself into.

I was packing my seabag up for a vacation from my ship T.C.Hart ....... to go to the Missouri to help with her C.I.W.S. guns. I saw my first T-Hawk launch from there.

I played a HS lacrosse game. I think we won.

We were in the area of the Saudi/Iraq boarder flying. Got the call on 121.5 (guard freq) that "anyone in the area better be on the ground in 1 hour or you would be considered hostile and dealt with...

Called them back and they said "we have you on radar, push the throttles up and get on the ground ASAP" which we did. Checked in with Riyadh Mil freq 1 hour and 3 minutes later and recovered on base.

I was the Air Boss on an amphip/Command ship, USS La Salle, AGF 3...now an artificial reef!

I got to fly with the Desert Ducks in really old H-3's, but I was off the ship and the Mini-Boss did well.

After the USS Tripoli hit a mine, as did an Aegis Cruiser, we did all the mine sweeping and I got to get back into my trusty H-60 when they deployed on La Salle.. I landed on the quay in Kuwaiti the day of surrender with a good friend of mine.

La Salle was the first ship in port. The great thing about that day is that the Captain of the ship, still a good friend of mine, opened the ship to the Army and Marines...shower, shave, air conditioning, call home.

We traded everything with the Grunts and the G's...

I was just out of high school trying to join up myself. Dad was in the air force and was deployed immediately to Diego Garcia to support the B-52 flights out of there (he was a flight engineer on KC-10s).

The north ridge quake happened as well and I recall gathering with my scout troop to assist the guard in providing relief for the residents.

It was an interesting time.

One of the barracks housing some Army or Marines I believe was bombed in Saudi Arabia killing a couple of former high school class mates.

I was driving a patrol car on the night shift, I can still remember my partner and I listening to the Radio reports of the air strikes. To me it does seem like along time ago.
Steve

Al-Khobar towers in Saudi... My wife and I were in the parking lot where the truck bomb exploded the day before the bombing. Glad our friends were out of the building when it hit. Left a lasting impression...

I was at King Fahad IAP, Saudi Arabia, turning A-10s for missions. Many SCUDs dropped in the first few nights as I remember, all intercepted by Patriots. Our "tent commander" knocked himself out running through a dark tent to the bunker. Most of us were relieved that war had finally started...Desert Shield was mostly filling sand bags and chem warfare drills.

We (E-3/E-4 Crew Chiefs) had no idea what the big picture was, just work/sleep/fix jets. I had to watch video tapes when I got home to get perspective. No Internet/cell phones/sat tv for us in them days. Not the case at the super-bases in the AOR now.

Kevin

Thanks, guys!

I was sitting in a circle parking garage in Saudi along with the rest of my team waiting to fly into Iraq. Had been there for a few months just training and waiting. The parking garage beat the desert. On the other hand trying to find level ground to sleep on was a *****!

i was stationed at Fort Carson, CO (my first duty station)...on guard duty at the motorpool...watched the first night of bombing on ABC...will never forget the green night vision video of the Baghdad anti aircraft rounds firing into the air

I was in college, watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Amazing live coverage, I was in awe.
Also worrying about my best friend who had joined the Marines two years earlier just out of HS, and was in Kuwait at the time (learned later)

I was on my way to work when I hear it on the radio. Listened to it all day and got to watch when I got home that night.

Thanks for serving guys!

We were returning to GE from an airlift mission (C141) to Saudi when we couldn't find a place to land. All the jets (cargo types) were on the ground all over Europe. Ended up at Bitburg for the night. Our German "hosts" treated us very well, cooked up a great meal and fed us copious amounts of Gluhwein. Busy days for us.