Floyd Holcom probed parched soil along Kuwait's border with Iraq in March, making sure it would support a tank's churning treads. Members of Holcom's U.S. Army Special Forces team watched Kuwaiti soldiers cut openings in the border's gleaming steel fence. The desert was eerily quiet. Then, for three days and nights, the Astoria man and his fellow Green Berets stared in awe as thousands upon thousands of tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and trucks shattered the desert silence. The most powerful fighting machine on Earth thundered toward Baghdad, trailing dust and smoke. Finally the desert grew tranquil again. The Kuwaitis sealed...