As the signing of the cease-fire came closer, there began to be talk that we would have to leave a residual force in Kuwait, and I was informed that it was true when Secretary of Defense Cheney visited on 7 May. He told me the Kuwaitis wanted us to stay until the end of the year, but that the President would decide that, and that another force would replace the brigade as soon as possible. He also made it a point to visit the soldiers who would have to stay.
The brigade Jerry Rutherford selected to remain was a composite 1st Brigade commanded by Bill Nash (made up of units from other brigades). Because the decision had come so late, some of the soldiers were on airplanes about to leave, and we had to get them off and take them back to their equipment in Kuwait. It was not a good time for the troops. They had come on no notice, trained hard, won a great victory, done unexpected humanitarian work in and around Safwan — and now this.
I told 3rd AD to pick out a spot for the brigade that had something more than temporary facilities. Bill Nash looked around and recommended a place north of Kuwait City called Doha that had large warehouses for troop shelter and a large hardstand for equipment storage. It also had running water. Jerry Rutherford agreed, and after I took a look, I said that is it, move in.
By this time, CENTCOM HQ had departed the theater and were back in Tampa. John Yeosock departed with ARCENT on 10 May (John had been in-country from the first in August 1990). The CINC left Gus Pagonis in command of CENTCOM forward.
On my last day in-country, 11 May, I flew the 400 kilometers from King Khalid Military City to Kuwait to visit with the soldiers whom I had ordered to stay. I wanted to look them in the eye and explain why. It was not an easy meeting. They were hostile at first and had many questions: Why had they been told at the last minute? What about their families in Germany? Who would tell them? What else after this? How long? I told them we had won a great victory, and that, in the judgment of our government, a residual force was needed to continue to ensure that it lasted. It was a matter of trust. The soldiers accepted it, and said OK, we'll get on with it, it's our duty. It only intensified my sense of urgency to get them home. I told them we'd have them out in thirty to forty-five days, which was going out on a limb, because at that point we did not know who was coming to replace them. I also told them I would personally talk to their families in Germany.
That night I burned up the phone lines with Lieutenant General Denny Reimer in Washington, along with General Gordon Sullivan, to get a replacement force named fast. Sully promised me that he and General Vuono were dedicated to getting the 3rd AD troops out as quickly as possible. Earlier, there had been talk about sending the 199th Light Armored Brigade from Fort Lewis, Washington, but I was against it because they would have to bring their own equipment from Fort Lewis and they would take forever to get there. I had proposed the 11th ACR out of Germany, and General Butch Saint had agreed. They would be here the fastest of any unit, and they were a perfect match for the equipment and the mission.
One of the first things I did when I got back to Germany was to visit the families in Giessen whose military spouses had remained in Kuwait while the rest of the VII Corps had gone home. They were just as hostile as the brigade had been in Kuwait. I could not blame them. Yet all they wanted was some straight information. I identified myself as the one who had made the decision on the brigade of the 3rd AD, and explained the reason. Like their military spouses, they accepted it without question.
Who could ask for anything more of soldiers and their families? I was almost overcome with emotion when I saw how resolute they all were and willing once again to do what they had to do. I promised them their spouses would be home within forty-five days.
They were home in thirty-six.
FULL CIRCLE
It was a time for closure.
VII Corps had many ceremonies, and the individual units had their own.
In early March, as a gesture, all units in the theater were ordered to pick representatives to go home early. Our commanders and command sergeant majors selected soldiers by lot, and on 8 March we assembled them in formation at Al Khubar Village. Our VII Corps band and the troops in their new desert BDUs (we finally got them in time for the troops to wear home!) were all together. It was an emotional day, as all these ceremonies proved to be. This was the first.
General Schwarzkopf attended, as well as Lieutenant General Cal Waller, to say farewell to the soldiers and to tell them thanks. I met General Schwarzkopf that day at the airfield and escorted him all day, including at the formation. Not a word passed about any of the incidents of the war. During the ceremony, he said, 'It was a helluva job on the part of VII Corps all the way around… I'm proud of them. The country's proud of them. The world's proud of them. And they should be proud of themselves.'
My message was, 'No matter what is written, said, or shown about what happened here, your courage, heart, toughness, teamwork, and willingness to take the fight to the enemy without letup in bad weather, day and night, will be forever stamped in these desert sands… You are the best we have… You are all heroes and I am enormously proud of each and every one of you… I have been honored to be in your ranks and privileged to be given the responsibility to lead you in battle.'
It was a message I would tell to as many VII Corps soldiers as I could reach, and at each departure ceremony in Saudi, as individual major units of the corps departed.
We arrived home on 12 May to a brief ceremony at the Stuttgart Airport attended by, among others, Ambassador Vernon Walters, SACEUR Commander General Jack Galvin, and Lord Mayor Rommel of Stuttgart. Our arrivals back home in Germany were short on ceremony and long on hugs with spouses, family members, and friends. Denise was waiting for me, as well as Margie, Greg, Jake, and Mickey when we arrived at Kelly Barracks. There was the national anthem, then more band music, and big cheers from the family members on the floor of the gym, who were waving yellow ribbons and U.S. flags. I never hugged and kissed Denise so much as I did at that reunion. Similar scenes went on all over VII Corps and Germany, with 'Proud to Be an American' and 'From a Distance' by far the most popular songs played.
On 31 May at Kelly Barracks, we had the most emotional ceremony of all. In the small soldier chapel there, amid the stained-glass windows, we paid tribute to the lasting memory of those who had lost their lives in Desert Storm. VII Corps Command Sergeant Major Bob Wilson[56] and other CSMs read the roll of all the soldiers who had died, one by one. There was neither a sound nor a dry eye. It was a profoundly moving moment, and spurred a vow from us all to remember them that day and every day.
On 27 June at Kelly Barracks, all units who had been members of the VII Corps Desert Storm team—900 soldiers and commanders, including the British, with their own band, and the French — assembled to honor the corps. Special guests included Ambassador Walters, General Sullivan (the new Army Chief) and General Butch Saint. It was a particularly windy day, with gusts of over forty knots (which perhaps reminded some of the desert winds and sandstorms through which we had fought), but the color guard would not let the flags drop, and their hands had to be pried off the flagstaffs after the formation. We awarded medals to deserving soldiers for valor and humanitarian service, and to civilians and those who had done so much at the VII Corps Base operation in Germany.
General Colin Powell flew over specially to attend the ceremony, and spoke warmly and emotionally to those assembled. In part, he said, 'Thank you for your magnificent victory in the Gulf, and I also want to say thank you on behalf of the liberated people of Kuwait and others in the Persian Gulf region whose security you have ensured by your gallantry in action… You have raised the levels of warfare to new heights. You fought a war of complexity and integration that no one has ever seen before. You were at the top of the profession of arms… You have made America proud again. You have made America feel good about herself again. You have made America realize that there is nothing we can't do if we put our hearts to it, if we put our minds to it, and if we put our muscles to the task before us. You have shown that the armed forces of the United States, and especially the JAYHAWK Corps, are the best and brightest of the nation.' Following the ceremony, he stayed to greet as many people as possible in the open reception, then flew straight back to Washington. It was another reminder to me of the difference between Desert Storm and Vietnam. General Powell's leadership was one big reason.
In September 1991, Denise and I were invited back to our hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, for a parade
