Desert Storm

Recognize the man in the photo? It's "Stormin" Norman Schwarzkopf. US army Field Commander and face of Desert Storm. Hollywood couldn't have come up with a better character than Stormin Norman.

There was an epic battle

they called it desert storm

In days of old long ago

The Marine in me was born

 

I saw it on the TV screen

I was only ten years old

A spectacular US lead victory

Such a great battle to behold

 

America got her first look

at her incredible war machine

The pentagon had been building

With all that tax payer green

 

Roaring Tomahawk cruise missiles

Sure shot Patriot Batteries

Blowing Scuds out of the sky

averting airborne catastrophes

 

B-2 Bombers Blackhawk gunships

The fiercely brutal A-10

It was all so mesmerizing

I wanted to join up right then

 

But I was just a little boy

Ten tender years of age

I hadn't yet reached puberty

I hadn't yet learned to shave

 

Around the clock coverage

I watched for hours on end

The pentagon was censoring

I didn't know that then

 

We never saw the carnage

Our air craft let loose from the sky

Until the famed highway of death

Then we saw the other side

 

Thousands of men and women

Fleeing from liberated Kuwait

Trapped by coalition Air craft

They just sealed their fate

 

It was a slaughter turkey shoot

burned corpses strewn everywhere

All the world was flabbergasted

By brutality that didn't seem fair

 

So our leaders said enough already

Our Objectives had been met

Saddam ran off back to Bagdad

With half his Army spent

 

We said Hooray for the USA

Our fighting force is the best

Yes we know that much is true

But what happened to the rest

 

Something else was happening

we didn't know about at the time

Aljazeera was out reporting

the slaughter from their side

 

Those were their brothers and sisters

that were being blown away

When air strikes missed their target

or folks just got in the way

 

Smart bombs don't discriminate

Who's head they're landing on

They just set the coordinates

and hope nothing goes wrong

 

What we saw was a video game

     Performance for a sell

They didn't want the public to know

     War was still pure hell

 

It didn't matter either way

I was still going to join the corps

and at 18 I did just that

I wanted to be hardcore

 

Then I fought in another battle

more controversial than epic

With few B-2 smart bomb strikes

This was on the ground and basic

 

The second battle for Fallujah

Marines against the Mujahideen

They got there asses handed to them

So they switched to snipers and IED'S

 

Civilians got in the crossfire

More times than I could count

War is a nightmare that never wakes up

We need to find another way out

 

So we argue and debate

Over what's right and wrong

The occupation was a f*****g disaster

But at least we have desert storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

US media coverage of desert storm was heavily censored until CNN ran with the "Highway of death" story. US lead "fire at will" air strikes against retreating columns leaving Kuwait across the only major highway in the desert. The carnage suffered by the all but defenseless Iraqis was so devisting public outcry and international outrage from the UN forced the president to call for a halt to Operation desert storm. The Coalition claimed legitamate military targets. Aljazeera and the international community claimed mostly civilians were slaughtered in an unnessassary and grotesque use of force.
Desert storm was life changing event for me cause it was the inspiration my ten year old brain needed to convince me to join the Marine Corps when I turned 18. Not that I think joining the corps was a bad dicision but at the time I didn't realize just how horrific war truly was, now I know and we need to stop.

Reviews

[Dawn]

Wow you took me on a journey with this piece of storytelling. I ended the reading feeling more knowledgeable then previously and definitely with a perspective that I enjoyed.

[KAOlmsted]

Semper Fidelis, dude...you absolutely made a brave decision to join the corps, there is not a person on this earth who would or should dispute that, and your understanding of war is so much more than, say, the average citizen who only gets the censored version on cable news, so good on ya for writing these pieces. They make me stop and think, and for that I thank you, because I am not one of those people who would ever protest a war--I believe they are necessary evils--so to hear from somebody with such a strong, experienced voice on the matter makes me appreciate that necessary evil all the more, and to stop and take a moment to thank you, and not in some trite, passing, sort of well-there-you-go way, either. I mean thank you. Sincerely.

But we cannot stop, because "They" won't stop. Ever.

Truly poignant piece, though.
-kimmer

[Shelby]

Great poem! I actually understood most of it (surprisingly), and your writing style is excellent! The only mistake I saw was when you said, "That was their brothers and sisters". It should be "Those" instead, but otherwise amazing work!

[Baby Ricochet]

thanks

[Baby Ricochet]

I changed it. THanx again for pointing it out.

[Shelby]

You're welcome!

[Pax]

You know what i thought about Media News..before I always thought it speaks of freedom(freedom of speech) but then again when it comes to outbreaks, the grotesque effects of war and some nudity are censored.. the rules of censored-ship is a bit cruel at times.. specially the news...its makes us blind to the realities of war, they censored it for the children and the children in us so that we will not panic...and that's the good side of it....

in this poem you open to us the faulty mistake of the government which the media is blind or the government prevent it from showing to the world...

and about the authors note, yes we do need to stop, but then how can we stop...human nature is greedy and sinful...that's something is hard to change..its the two characteristics i could think off to start a new sparks of war... yet all that i'm hopeful man can change..like he/she always does...

Brilliant expressed emotions and experienced my friend..
well done.

[Baby Ricochet]

War has an on the ground momentum people that haven't experienced one know about. It's really hard to explain but it's the main reason a war is easy to start and next to impossible to stop

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanx for reading William. I always appreciate your input

[Pax]

I hope its not too long input...or thoughts bout your poem...war once started hard to stop..there are so many reasons why war has started...if you generalized it..it all comes to greed...like conquering lands...expanding power...too much to think of...

and your very much welcome..

[Pax]

now that re-read this review of mine it has a lot of typo mistake...i hope i conveyed my point clearly...now i edited it abit....haha...my mistakes...pardon me my friend..

[Tabitha t]

Epic as usual man. hoorah!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanx. HOORAH!

[RachelReaper]

really hit home for me, as I had two parents in the military (Navy), and my cousin is in the air force right now... uncle was marines, grandma was AF nurse back in the day... lot of family was in. Anyways, awesome poem.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanx.

[Tai Ryens]

Woe, the gruesome casualties of war. I could never imagine what memories would scar the veterans, whom have fought bravely for victory . . . Well, you've my respect for deciding to join, whatever may have inspired you to do so. Wondrous job, as always.

[Baby Ricochet]

Desert storm was without doubt the greatest US victory ever and the way it was packaged and fed to the public was propaganda genius until the highway of death story. OOPS. THe real price of war leaked out.

[afra]

Great write......i always enjoy ur work

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanx Afra.

[Heather]

Well done! That was the first war we could "watch" which was scary in itself. Profound that it was the reason you joined the military. Great poem!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanx heather.

[Annabelle Lee]

wow. This is the kind of stuff that should be on the posters, this is the type of stuf everyone needs to hear but refuses to listen to. And, I have to agree with Michael, it needed to be said. This needs to stop. You're right. But no amount of poetry or protest is going to stop the old b******s from bickering, the young men from fighting, or the children, from having to deal with the consequences.

[Baby Ricochet]

No it isn't. Thank you for reading my work Annebelle

[Annabelle Lee]

you are very welcome