Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030497
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CHIP BECK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seven weeks later, I was inside the compound of the American embassy in Kuwait City, watching the American flag being raised over the liberated capital.
In between these two events, as the Navy's official combat artist-in-theater, I had traveled hundreds of miles, hitchhiking around the war zone, trying to anticipate events and to be where the action was.
When the ground war opened, I was 12 miles off the coast of Kuwait City, on board the battleship USS Missouri. Her mission was to pound Failaka Island and the mainland, drawing Iraqi attention away from U.S. ground forces poised to punch through the "Saddam Line" or go around it to the west.
I then had to travel 300 miles down the gulf and back up through Saudi Arabia, riding on any piece of equipment headed my way, to catch up with and join the liberation forces speeding across the terrain toward Kuwait City.
After passing thousands of Iraqi prisoners of war headed for the rear lines, I managed to reach a U.S. Marine helicopter detachment and ride through the burning oil fields into Kuwait City with Marine infantry units that secured the international airport.
On Feb. 27, I made one of the first tours of Kuwait City by accompanying Maj. Gen. James Myatt, commander of the 1st Marine Division.
If there had ever been any doubts about the value of Operation Desert Storm, they were overcome by the outpouring of joy, affection and jubilation by thousands of Kuwaitis who had lived and suffered through the Iraqi occupation.
Whole families cheered our tiny convoy, shouting "`God bless America," "`we love you" and "welcome and thank you." Women in black chadorahs waved Kuwaiti and coalition flags, some drawn hastily on paper, and ululated in the traditional Arab warble of celebration.
During the next few days, Kuwaitis continued to hold mass celebrations in the street. But for me, the weeks of hardship and long hours were all made worthwhile and put into perspective by a tiny, 2-year-old Kuwaiti girl, who approached me with her mother to give me a Kuwaiti flag.
I showed the little girl a picture of my own 2-year-old daughter, Jessica. Unexpectedly, the little girl clutched Jessica's picture and began kissing it, saying in Arabic "Thank you for sending your daddy to help us."
If there could be any greater reward that a father or soldier could have asked for, I can't imagine it.
Chip Beck of Arlington, a commander in the Navy Reserves, is editorial cartoonist for the Northern Virginia Sun. Associated Features, Inc.
by CNB