ANTHOLOGY AND ANNOTATED BIBUOGRAPHY                                        203


Captain Holcomb served with the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, in the Persian
Gulf  In the fall of 1990, he received a letter from Mrs Ann Dyer's third-grade
class at Montague School in Santa Clara, Cahfornia.        Mrs Dyer's students
asked Captain llolcomb a number of questions about Desert Shield in particular
and war in general.   This letter is Captain Holcomb,s answer to those ques-
tions.


Why We Fought

by Captain Orant K. Holcomb, USMC

Marine Corps Gazette, April 1991


   It was wonderful to get your letters.  I cannot thank you enough for your
concern. I hope to answer all of your many questions.     You are our future; it
is important that you know what is happening in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
This must never happen again.
   I will start by answering your toughest question first: "Have you started a
war yet? "  I am here to stop a war, not start it. Your letters remind me well
of why I am here.   You were free to write what you wanted, send it around the
world without it being stopped, and you never have to worry about being threat-
ened for what you wrote.  A child cannot do that in Iraq and can no longer do
that in Kuwait.  Far worse than the loss of freedoms is the total loss of value of
a human life.   To the leaders of Iraq, death is as much a part of government
business as garbage collection.  This is a hard thing to ask of you, but briefly
imagine living every second of your life in fear of being killed.  You are so
lucky to be safe and free in America.
   I am here in Saudi Arabia to protect this country from Saddam Hussein, the
leader of Iraq.   He became their leader by killing many people.     The Iraqi
people had no choice in the matter, they have no vote or other say in their
government like we do. Saddam Hussein needs large sums of money to stay in
power.    He seeks the power of controlling everyone around him.    To get the
money he needs he must have more control over the world's oil supply. He sent
his army into Kuwait to take its oil and money.    He would control one-half of
the world's oil supply if he could also take Saudi Arabia's oil with his army.
   Saddam Hussein is more evil than I can possibly describe in writing.    He
started by killing his own brother at age 10.  He has killed entire cities of his
own people with poison gas.     He has more people killed weekly in Iraq and
Kuwait than are in your classroom as you read this letter. When his army went
into Kuwait, they killed far more people everyday than are in your entire school.