I joined the Army in 1988 and went through basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and AIT at Fort Ben Harrison, IN. My first assignment was to Headquarters 3d Armored Division in Frankfurt, Germany. In November 1990 we were alerted to move to Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield. We had elements of the 3d AD in Saudi Arabia that had already moved out in the summer of 1990, right after Iraq overran Kuwait.

I looked forward to going to Desert Storm; I had just graduated from PLDC in Hanau, Germany and I wanted to 'do what I was trained to do'...serve with the 3d Armored Division in combat. I was glad I had the opportunity to go.

A typical 'Army Brat', I was born in Okinawa, lived 'everywhere' and eventually followed my father into the Army. My grandfather was in the Infantry in WWII and was awarded a bronze star; my father was a career soldier for 30-years and my uncle, SPC Daryl Schmidt - an 'oh-five-charlie' who was also in the Army - was lost in Viet Nam. The Army was 'in my blood.'

Desert Storm was exciting but at the same time in the back of my mind I thought 'I could really die' and so could others, so it was also very scary. The scuds - the possible use of chemical weapons - the ground war - the land mines - it was the real thing. No movie. No book. Not television's CHINA BEACH. This was the real thing.

Saudi Arabia. I remember taking our gas masks everywhere - the bathroom, the shower, even when I went out jogging. The desert was somewhat like Kansas only there was no grass and no trees, just miles of sand, rocks and hilly terrain and the night sky was incredibly beautiful. A billion stars.

I got to travel a lot during Desert Shield 'slash' Desert Storm in every kind of vehicle the Army had. I drove in Chevy blazer trucks painted in the green camouflage from Europe, drove a mud-camouflaged HUMMV, rode in an M1A1/2 tank, drove an armored personnel carrier (one-one-three), and flew in Blackhawk helicopters. I was even fortunate enough to ride along in a helicopter to visit the combat units of the 3d AD with my Division Commander - Major General Paul E. Funk and the Allied Commander General - H. Norman Schwarzkopf early in the operation shortly before the ground war began.

My adventures included black out driving through the desert to find a telephone satellite site, feeding camels Oreo cookies, washing all my clothes by hand, dust storms, scuds overhead, and stand-to/down on our perimeter at Log Base Echo near KKMC and later at our divisions forward base camp during the ground war, keeping as much 5.56 ammo in my web gear as I could carry for my M-16, and finally the hardest part - losing a friend who was killed by a land mine. I have very mixed feelings about the war - elation and excitement and sadness and anger, all at the same time.

In the past, there seemed to be a general misconception of the ordinary soldiers' understanding of what we were really fighting for during Desert Storm. I'd like to keep the record straight - us soldiers knew we were fighting to protect America's way of life - and OIL was an essential part of keeping our way of life going. We knew the oil in the Middle East was definitely necessary for our country and there was never a doubt in anyone's mind about why we were sent to war over there. We were not there to help spread democracy, we were there to ensure that the United State's vital interests in that part of the world were secure.

From my perspective, it was probably better to leave Saddam Hussein in power. At least with Saddam in power, other Arab nations could never trust Iraq. Neither will the rest of the world. And besides, you have to think of the possible rulers that would have taken his place - better maybe, but why take the chance? At least we and everyone else know today who we are dealing with when we deal with Iraq - Saddam Hussein - someone completely unpredictable.

I'm glad the war ended so quickly. I'm thankful I came back in one piece... many others were less fortunate. Please take a moment to read some of the names on the Dedication Page... and remember...