Efficient, precise, swift, and dominating.
Those are just a few of the words that come to mind when recollecting Operation Desert Storm.
Scott Stump, president and founder of the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association, came up with the idea for a Washington, D.C. based Persian Gulf War memorial years ago. He, like many others, sees the war at risk of being forgotten.
“This was one of the pivotal events in the nation’s history. While the war ended very quickly, we cannot forget the nearly 400 servicemen who did not come home,” he told told Fox News. “We owe it to their families and to all of those who fought to remember.”
Stump’s group recently obtained congressional approval for the $20 to $40 million project.
“There is a tendency to downplay the war because it only lasted about 100 hours,” he said. “We had a mission to liberate Kuwait. We completed that mission. But it certainly was not easy. The relatively low casualty rate should not determine the worth of this memorial.”
Stump reminds us of what was. A time where efficiency and overwhelming forces could neutralize a million man army within hours. In the post 9/11 war era, those ideas would be scoffed and laughed upon by our 'modern' military leaders.
Stump said that the quick victory reestablish a positive relationship between the American public and the military after years of a tiresome Vietnam War.
The memorial's proposed design incorporates the maneuver credited with breaking the back of the Iraqi forces, a slamming left flank that took Saddam and his army by surprise.
The association received its biggest endorsement when former President George H.W. Bush joined the organization as honorary chairman of the Board of Directors.
“During Operation Desert Storm, our troops served with valor and honor to defend what was right and just. Some lost their lives; others still live today with the wounds suffered in battle. Their sacrifices must not be forgotten,” Bush said in a statement.
We must certainly never forget the lessons of the Persian Gulf War. No matter what enemy our nation faces in the future, we must never forget the premium of 'winning' and doing so in a manner that displays to the world how quickly and effectively our military might can conduct business. Veterans from Operation Desert Storm do not deserve a memorial for participating in the war, they deserve a memorial for putting on grand display American military strategy and winning that war.
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