Ostensibly, the military presence was aimed at keeping Iraq from invading Saudi Arabia. Over the next few months, led by the United States, a massive military force from 35 nations was assembled in adjacent Saudi Arabia. Sitting there on our comfy couches, we looked at each other and said, “Well, that was easy.”įrom the moment Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor to the south on August 1, 1990, an array of world nations condemned the action. When it was all over, less than a hundred hours after the final offensive started, those of us watching TV heard the casualty reports: 292 coalition troops killed, compared to tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers. Grim images of burned Iraqi corpses, their charred hands curled in death, seemed to serve as object lessons in the perils of challenging the might of the world’s “good guys.” Swarms of Iraqi soldiers were reportedly surrendering without a fight. News reports showed fleets of allied tanks roaring across the desert like a stampede of buffalo, routing Iraq’s Russian-made tanks, blasting them into plumes of fire and smoke. Allied troops were thoroughly trouncing the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, overrunning their positions and chasing them out of Kuwait, the small, oil-rich country Hussein’s army had invaded the previous August. In three epic encounters-dubbed 73 Easting, Medina Ridge, and Fright Night (officially known as the Battle of Norfolk)-armored behemoths from both sides relentlessly went muzzle-to-muzzle, turning the sprawling desert into history’s most concentrated tank shooting gallery.įor the millions of Americans who stayed glued to their TVs in late February 1991, the news coming from Kuwait was unrelentingly triumphant. Meigs, who commanded 2nd Brigade at the time, said his tankers’ training in Germany, where they drilled speed and accuracy to fight Soviet bloc forces, easily eclipsed the skill of the Iraqis.Please be respectful of copyright. Their taste of battle had been brief and complete. More than 100 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, according to reports at the time.Ī cease-fire went into effect the next day across Iraq, and American forces were out of the country weeks later. When American forces moved forward after the battle, they were told to close their hatches as Iraqi ammunition cooked off. The Iraqis suffered far worse, with only a few fighters fleeing or surrendering. Clarence Cash, whose vehicle was hit by a friendly tank round. The only American killed in action was a 20-year-old cavalry scout, Spc. “You could see they were engaging us, but their rounds were falling short,” said Sean Dorfman, another platoon leader.ĭistinguishing friendly forces was the biggest challenge for American forces during the fighting. The Iraqis were firing back, with no effect. ![]() “It was stunning, just the power of the rounds,” he said.Īmerican AH-64 Apache helicopters and A-10 Warthogs fighter jets quickly joined in the fight, further tipping the scales. “We caught them looking in the wrong direction,” he said. ![]() ![]() Larry Porter, a former platoon sergeant, remembers cresting the ridge and finding more than a dozen Iraqi tanks in a staggered line - and pointing away from his platoon. Though tactically sound, the scheme turned out to be both unlucky and unworkable against an advanced enemy. In an effort to block the American drive and allow Iraqi forces to withdraw from Kuwait, the 2nd Brigade of the Guard’s Medina Division had dug in behind a small rise in the landscape, a ridge that would expose enemy tanks to their fire. It was experienced in desert tank battles from Iraq’s recent nine-year war with Iran, but its forces were reeling from combat with the Americans when the battle took place on Feb. The Republican Guard was equipped with Soviet-made T-72 and obsolescent Chinese Type 69 tanks. The tank crews of 1st Armored Division had moved at a blistering pace through southern Iraq since crossing the Saudi border three days earlier, meeting little resistance along the way.Īfter a small skirmish with Iraqi regular forces in the town of Al Busayyah, 2nd Brigade tankers were pushed forward in search of the Republican Guard, the elite branch of Iraq’s military and the praetorian guard of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Norman Schwarzkopf’s “left hook” - a massive flanking attack against Iraqi forces near the Kuwait border. And it was one of the final punches of Gen.
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