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

[Michael G.]

First, the poem is something that needed to be said... and you did it well.

I commend you on your decision to join, whatever the motive. It has molded you into a fine man with character and morals.
While you were watching at the age of ten, there were others on the other side of the world at the same age, watching, and thinking the same thoughts as you. You may have actually come face-to-face with them. Yes, we "all" need to stop. And I wish it would. But, I don't think it will.

[Baby Ricochet]

I'm sure we did. Aljazeera was a major propaganda problem for us. They exaggerated civilian casualties while ignoring the violence between the shia's and Sunnis and what the mujahideen were up to.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thankyou for reading my work MR G. I do appreciate your input.

[Kaylor Mason]

Nice poem

[Baby Ricochet]

thanx

[Shimmerbliss/CAF]

I remember well how surreal it seemed to be "watching the war" as people said at the time...what?! "Watching the war?" for some it was like a tv program...I found it terribly sad...there was such a disconnect about the whole thing. I can understand why you as a boy felt the way you did, but I am older than you and it broke my heart, mainly because I knew that there were people dying in explosions. Death, in or out of war, is a sacred thing not to be taken without reverence. Sorry, now you got me going on. I have not personally seen the horror of war with my own eyes, but I have seen human suffering enough to imagine that one could never be the same after living war.
Your work is so needed. Most of the veterans from my generation would not speak of their experiences. It was, and still is with many of them, like the shadow of a monstrous bird of prey comes over their faces and darkens their eyes.

[Baby Ricochet]

"monsterous bird of prey comes over their faces and darkens their eyes" I like that. Thanx for reading

[That_Girl]

FINALLY. Jesus Christ for like the past 10 minutes I've been getting updates on my News Feed about you editing this but then it would say that it wasn't published. Anyways, I found it really interesting to learn why you became involved in the Marines. My friend's father joined at 18 and fought in Desert Storm and he's one of the most amazing men I've ever met. The poem was strong and powerful. Well done!

[Baby Ricochet]

thanx for reading