Preface

On 2 August 1990, the date that Iraq invaded Kuwait, I happened to be camping with my family in a remote area in northern California. Emerging Out of the wilderness a few days later, I learned of this event and sensed that involvement by Marines was imminent. Because the unit I commanded was the Corps' only unit of historians, I thought it likely we would be called upon as well. I contacted our operational sponsor, Brigadier General E. H. Simmons, Director of Marine Corps History and Museums. Although operational security was extremely tight, he averred that it might be a good idea to pack my seabag.

At that time the Corps had a policy of not using reserves in the first 60 days of a contingency operation, so my deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Cureton, and I remained at home until 15 October 1990 while I MEF made its historic deployment to the Persian Gulf. Just before leaving my civilian job, one of my co~workers and a fellow Vietnam veteran, former Marine sergeant Jim Stephenson, asked me to look up his two sons, both of whom were Marines in theater. I promised to do my best.

My instructions from General Simmons were to oversee the overall historical collection effort, conduct oral history interviews, and ensure the quality of the various unit5' Command Chronologies. The last is one of the primary sources for the writing of Marine Corps history. As the unit's only aviator, I was also given the task of covering the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing. My own instructions to the members of my detachment were: (1) to be as self-sup- porting as possible and (2) to carry out our tasks on a non-interfering basis.

We finally arrived in theater on 9 November 1990 in a C-S Galaxy via Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. We carried an assortment of begged and borrowed laptop and ancient "portable' computers plus photo and video equipment. Upon arrival at the I MEF command post, then at the Commercial Pofl of Jubayl, Lieutenant General Walter E. Boomer designated me Command Historian of the force. Among my tasks was the writing of the I MEF Command Chronology. This along with my journal notes and oral interviews became the principal source for this work.

My initial orders to active duty authorized a rental car for the two of us although the intention was probably for domestic use rather than overseas. Transport within the theater was at a premium, however, and after some searching I was able to rent a sub-compact car. The Saudi government replaced this shortly with a sedan which, I must say, possessed remarkable off-road han- dling abilities. This in turn was swapped for a camouflaged Jeep Cherokee just before the ground campaign. Altogether we put some 30,000 miles on these vehicles as we crisscrossed the I MEF area of operations to witness events from the launching of first Marine air strikes on Iraq on 17 January 1991 to the liberation of Kuwait City on 27 February 1991.

In December I attached Charlie Cureton to the 1st Marine Division. In mid-January 1991, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis P. Mroczkowski arrived and I

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