Posted on 02/14/2020 10:26:42 AM PST by Ben Mugged
TRIBUTE TO A SOLDIER: Bob is my friend. Some of you know Bob as a photographer; however, long before he picked up a camera Bob rode bulls in the 50s and early 60s. Bob is also a Navy veteran, a submarine sailor, the best of the best. Bob's son who I'll call Jr for now enlisted in the Army and was deployed during the first Gulf War in 1991. While dug in with his unit somewhere in Iraq they came under an Iraqi SCUD missile attack. The missiles landed close to Jr's position but unlike other missiles these had a muted explosion, almost laughable. Afterwards the soldiers in the area noticed their Camos were covered with a layer of dust and thought it was from the desert sand. They didn't think much about it. Years went by and Jr left the army, married and got on with his civilian life. At some point he came down with symptoms that were later diagnosed as brain cancer. The VA sent Jr to a number of hospitals, one in Florida where he discovered other former soldiers from his unit being treated for the same symptoms Jr was showing. Bob called me yesterday to tell me his son died, brain cancer the cause..My heart broke for Bob and for the families of soldiers who succumbed to cancer resulting from that war. Evidently Saddam used chemical weapons and the tragic results are showing up now. When a veteran is told by someone: “Thank you for your service” its' appreciated; however, understand that soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines don't always die on the battlefield from hostile action. That blank check a veteran signs over to Uncle Sam for his life sometimes takes years of sickness and pain before it finally cashes in with his/her service related death.. My salute and deepest respect to Jr, and his Dad.…”Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” Semper Fi
Nice. God bless him and family.
So very sorry for your friend. Heartbreaking that so many are suffering, and dying from, after effects of our wars. This enemy doesn’t subscribe to the Geneva Convention protocols. Americans should remember that.
we didn’t go into Iraq during the first gulf war...
My condolences to his family. may God bless them and be with them in this hour of their sorrow.
God bless Bob and his family. It’s incredibly tough losing a child.
I am sorry but that is incorrect.
Per Wiki:
Shortly afterwards, the US VII Corps, in full strength and spearheaded by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, launched an armored attack into Iraq early on 24 February, just to the west of Kuwait, taking Iraqi forces by surprise
I was wrong. I apologize. thank you. noted.
https://gulfwar1991.blogspot.com/2010/11/ground-campaign-of-persian-gulf-war.html
....agree....! this is from another historical web site
on this subject; clearly, we WERE “...advancing into Iraq”.....
“On January 16, 1991, President George H. W. Bush announced the start of what would be called Operation Desert Storm—a military operation to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which Iraq had invaded and annexed months earlier. For weeks, a U.S.-led coalition of two dozen nations had positioned more than 900,000 troops in the region, most stationed on the Saudi-Iraq border. A U.N.-declared deadline for withdrawal passed on January 15, with no action from Iraq, so coalition forces began a five-week bombardment of Iraqi command and control targets from air and sea. Despite widespread fears that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might order the use of chemical weapons, a ground invasion followed in February. Coalition forces swiftly drove Iraq from Kuwait, advancing into Iraq, and reaching a cease-fire within 100 hours—controversially leaving Saddam Hussein in power. While coalition casualties were in the hundreds, Iraqi losses numbered in the tens of thousands.”
Sad story - I had a graduate school classmate in the early 2000s who was caught in the downwind drift from blowing up Saddam’s munitions after GW-I, some of which was chemical. He was in a tussle with the VA to get the symptoms treated then.
The reported “muffled explosion” from the SCUD is taught as an indicator of a chemical munitions deployment. It’s unfortunate the unit didn’t react accordingly with masks and MOPP gear.
That can’t be. Libs have assured us Saddam didn’t even have any WMDs, let alone any outlawed by Geneva.
Those must have just been some fireworks left over from Ramadan or something.
That is curious. We went to full MOPP for every SCUD attack.
I just had a high school classmate(wonderful guy) who served die of cancer that started in the brain and then spread throughout his body.
Yes, we did. It was a massive operation with huge (1 sided) tank battles. The combat portion only lasted 4 days, but the Iraqi Army was devastated, and the vaunted Republican Guard utterly defeated. After 4 days, having initially thought the war would turn in his favor once we were dragged into Iraq, Hussein desperately wanted out of the war when he saw our true capabilities and how massively overmatched he was.
You need to read up on Gen. Stormin’ Norman.
thank you...see my post #8.
I should have known way better... I’ve read schwarzkopf’s book.
I’ll just sit down and shut up.
FRiend, you better re-read your history book!
See that 
patch at left above? Our "#2 son"'s 82nd Airborne unit went all the way to an Nasiriyah on the Euphrates River in Iraq during Desert Storm. (He just retired as CSM (Command Sergeant Major).
100% of his Desert Storm combat time was spent in Iraq...
TXnMA
thanx. I know i stunk it up there.
See my posts 8 & 15
You are right. I was with VII Corps and we were definitely in Iraq in that conflict.
Happens to all of us...
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Reminds me of AJ Foyt's answer after he put his Indy car "into the hay bales" outside a turn during his last road race:
REPORTER: "What happened, AJ? Momentary brake fade?"
AJ: "Nah! Momentary brain fade..." '-)
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Apologies! I used your comment as an excuse to "do my 'carto' thing" & teach a bit of history. (...and brag on "#2 Son"...) '-}
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When telling of their run up to the Euphrates, he mentioned in passing, "Our unit started taking sniper fire from the trees along the river."
As he wound up his tale, I asked, "Whatever happened to those snipers in the trees?"
"What trees, Sir?"... '-}
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["Bradley chainsaw..."] (Understated illustration of our Army's overwhelming firepower...)
No wonder GW1 became known as, the "100 Hour War"...
Happy hunting, FRiend!
TXnMA
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