introduction
I
started this webpage a few years ago while I was working on my
B.A. degree in History at USC. Looking back over the years that
have moved by so quickly, I came to understand that I was a participant
in an event that was HISTORY and I was there. It's kind of a
strange feeling. Now that I'm teaching college level history
(some of my students were in elementary school during the Persian
Gulf War) I realize how
important primary sources are for teaching, learning and getting
the different perspectives about an event or person or place
in a historical time period. This is my small view of
the Gulf War in the Middle East. I'm not a big fan of war, but
sometimes there is no other choice or option except to go to
war. However, I can't forget how much pain it caused people -
all people, the Mobleys' and their families, the Iraqis' and
their families, the Kuwaitis' and their families and many more
families and friends who were close to those who did not come
home. I have mixed emotions, yet, if I went back to that winter
of 1990-91, I would pack up my rutsack, head to tent city at
Rhein Main AFB and climb into that C141 and do it all again.
It was a defining moment in my life and certainly changed my
"perspective" of the world and helped me have an appreciation
for life and our country. Again, this is only one person's viewpoint
from small spot in the theater of operation. My viewpoint is
different then an American tanker inside Iraq, or the Apache
pilot during the attack, or the Supply sergeant back at the Saudi
port. I was privileged to serve with the US Army, the VII
Corps, V Corps and the 3d Armored "Spearhead" Division
in both Europe and the Persian
Gulf. I'm slowly working on a book. I've got hundreds of pages
of notes, hundreds of photos... documents... letters... clippings...
tapes, etc. My objective is not to tell the complete story
of Desert Storm, that would be impossible. But, I can tell
one small part of the story, like hundreds of other of veterans
are beginning to do. All together, these stories can give a pretty
good picture - one that would take a team of historians many
years to pull together. For a more complete picture of the ground
war I've included Chapter 8 from The Whirlwind War The United States Army in Operations DESERT SHIELD
and DESERT STORM - Published by The United States Army Center
of Military History, which provides a good synopsis about the
groundwar and the role of the 3d Armored Division. There are
other sites by fellow soldiers, sailors and airmen that provide
valuable information about the Gulf War of '91 from many points-of-view
and I will list some of them whenever possible. In any case,
life since the war has been good to me. Please take a moment
to read some of the names on the Dedication
Page... and remember...
Katherine Marie Schmidt-Jenerette
University of South Carolina, Post Graduate Studies
email: desertkate@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/desertkate/
POSTWAR
UPDATE college - family - work & politics
