Big parade in Kuwait this weekend:
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people, from children to heads of state, lined a stretch of highway outside of Kuwait City for a two-hour military parade of nations from the coalition forces that in 1991 repelled Saddam Hussein’s invading army.
Tanks, troops, armored vehicles, helicopters and barrel-rolling fighters jets streaming red, green and white smoke – the national colors – passed in formation before Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and other dignitaries including Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs in 1991, and Spain’s King Juan Carlos.
It was a spectacle rarely seen in the world today. Saudi, Kuwaiti, French British, and other troops joined the relatively small contingent of roughly 175 Americans thundering down the road and above the grandstands.
Hard to believe that the main effort of Operation Desert Storm wrapped up 20 years ago.
And it’s good to see that the victory parade hasn’t gone entirely out of style.
Kinda O/T, but the RAF does what our Dear Leader doesn’t have the guts to do: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12592849
When I flew into Bahrain in to start my XO tour in 2001, by two bags were tagged for “extra scrutiny” for the Customs guys in Bahrain. They were particularly keen on CD’s so as to expand their own pron collections as far as I could tell. In digging through my luggage, past the swim fins, and boots and other cool guy gear, they happened upon my small and large sets of medals. They saw my Southwest Asia Service Medal, and asked, “You have been here before?” To which I gave them a “No, a little North of here though”. They zipped up my stuff, shook may hand, and sent me on my way.
Chuck Horner. That’s what I remember. I know Stormin’ Norman was the media darling, but it was Chuck’s book I bought.
I bought all three: Horners, Stormin’s, and Fred Franks. I thought the one about Franks was the best of the three.
Ron-
Appears the Luftwaffe did the same thing this weekend as well. Two German military aircraft flew into remotes sites in Libya to rescue German nationals and others. Operation occurred in roughly the the same time frame as the RAF mission.
Too bad the Oscars coverage pushed this little item out of the MSM, huh?
20 Years ago. Damn. Where did the time go?
I just saw a Marine Captain at lunch — he looked about 13 years old to this old fart. We NEVER looked that young!
Did we?
Never forget.
As an old band nerd, I must ask: Which bands marched and what tunes did they play?
P.s. I hope they played some Alford. ” The Great Little Army” would have been perfect for the British contingent. “Across the Sands” by Karl King wouldn’t have hurt, either.
Really, guys, I refuse to attend any wars without live music. As Winston said, “War, which used to be cruel and glorious, is now cruel and sordid. In fact, it has been completely spoilt!”
P.s. As much as I like smokeless powder for my own pieces (I’m a slacker and a slob about cleaning them), in my ideal world official government forces would be limited to black powder. Private citizen militiamen would of course be allowed to have the smokeless and the HE. Hey, we have hardly any training! We need better weapons than the regulars because of that!