Operation Desert Storm: Bravery of Women in the Iraque War

For my book review I read the book, The Brave Women of the Gulf Wars: Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, written by Karen Zeinert and Mary Miller. My main topics will be "Operation Desert Storm", "Operation Iraqi Freedom", and " The 9-11 Attacks". Much of the Information that is gathered in this book is from many of the women who were involved in these Gulf Wars. We get the point of view of someone who was never allowed in combat, but then we get to see those laws change. The Women who gave most of the information on what is was like to be a woman who was just begging to be let into combat are; Private First Class Lori Piestewa, Private First Class Jessica Lynch, and Specialist Shoshana Johnson.

The country of Iraq was established in 1931. Iraq had three major Religions. The three major religions are, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Iraq had a population of twenty million people. The Islam religion was split into three different groups, the Shiite, Sunni, and the Kurd Muslims. The Baath Party is the political party that wanted to take control of Iraq. In 1965 the Baath Party took control of Iraq and Iraq’s Army. second in command of the Baath Party was thirty one year old Saddam Hussein. Saddam had an violent life when he was a young teenage boy. At the age of fifteen he committed his first assassination. Saddam had brought a new level of violence to Iraq. Saddam was known as "Butcher of Baghdad". When Saddam got control of the Baath Party he became power hungry and tried to take over the Iraq.

When he took over Iraq he put his cousin Ahmad Hassan Al-Bakr in jail so he could gain power easier than before. Saddam’s government and Military leaders were all Sunni Muslims, which led the Sunni to gain dominance in Iraq. Saddam wanted to take over Kuwait when Kuwait gained their independence in 1961. Iraq had a debt of seventeen million dollars in war debts. Saddam was hoping that if he took over Kuwait he could cancel his war debt. When Iraq gave up their claims to Kuwait they asked for eighty four million dollars in return. When Saddam was threatening Kuwait the United States did not want to get involved with it even though they said they would support Kuwait if they went to war with Iraq. Saddam met with Glaspie to resolve the conflict with Kuwait peacefully, but eight days later on August 2, 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait. Saddam sent 100,000 soldiers into Kuwait. Kuwait only had 20,000 soldiers so this overwhelmed the Kuwait Army.

Just nine hours after the Iraqi troops invaded, Iraq controlled most of Kuwait. By invading Kuwait Saddam wanted to raise the price of oil globally. The same day as Saddam invaded Kuwait the United Nations passed Resolution 660. Resolution 660 condemned the attack and demanded that Saddam immediately withdraw his troops from Kuwait. Saddam did not withdraw his troops. This caused the UN to pass Resolution 661, on August 6, which asked all nations to stop trading with Iraq. When Saddam did not withdraw his troops the US and other nations in the UN decided to take Military action. Operation Desert Shield would have 700,000 troops, 1,600 Combat Aircrafts, 200 Warships, Medical teams, and a lot of money were also apart of Desert Shield. The UN Coalition troops would land in Saudi Arabia. The arrival of the female troops angered the Saudi people. Saddam will have his troops go door to door and take hostages, he planned on using the hostages as human shields.

Before using the hostages for shields he released the women and children hostages, and used the men as laborers and shields to keep the Coalition form bombing the Iraqi headquarters and supply units. Saddam had threatened to set fire to oil wells and pour oil into the Persian Gulf. On January 25th, Saddam had poured crude oil into the Persian Gulf and on February 23rd, he set fire to 700 oil wells. On November 29, 1990, the UN passed the Resolution 678 which authorized the Coalition to use force to push Saddam’s troops out of Kuwait because of the fires and the oil spill he caused. Women were not allowed to serve in the Military, and if they did they could only hold small positions. By the Vietnam War women were an integral part of the Armed Forces. There was a total of 37,000 plus women in Operation Desert Storm. The Army had 26,000, Navy had 3,700, Marines had 2,200, the Air Force had 5,300 and the Coast Guard had a total of 13 women serving with them during this time. The Draft was not used for Desert Storm, all of the troops volunteered to go to war.

Women would make up eleven percent of active soldiers and fifteen percent of the reserves. Of the total 37,000 plus women who were in combat in Operation Desert Storm fourteen of them were awarded with Combat Awards. Desert Storm had two different phases. The first phase was an air attack and the second phase was a ground offensive. On January 17, 1991 the Coalition troops started their air attack. The air attack weakened Saddam’s Military by bombing his equipment and Iraqi bases. The ground attack would only last four days. During the air attack Saddam used Scud Missiles. His Scud Missiles could travel up to 500 miles and they were fired from a flatbed truck that moved every time it fired a Scud. The trucks moving non stop caused the Coalition troops to not be able to pinpoint the exact location of the flatbeds that were launching the missiles. Instead of destroying the flatbeds the Coalition troops destroyed the Scuds with the Patriot Missile.

Lieutenant Phoebe Jeter was the first woman to become a Scud Buster. Lieutenant Jeter commanded an all male unit. KC-135 tankers were used in Desert Storm to refuel aircrafts in midair. Rathbun Nealy and David Lockett drove twenty-five-wheeled trucks through the desert to deliver supplies to the Coalition troops. These trucks would get stuck when driving through the desert because of their mass size, when the trucks would get stuck Saddam’s troops would advance on the truck and capture POWs. Two POWs that they captured where Rathbun Nealy and David Lockett. Rathbun Nealy was the first woman POW of Desert Storm. Thirteen women died and twenty one women were wounded in action during war. In total the US would have 148 deaths and less than 500 men and women were wounded. When the war was over the Shiite and Kurds decided to rebel against Iraq. When they Iraqi Military was killing the Shiite and the Kurds in masses the UN established a no fly zone. These zones were established in the south and the north. After seeing the big role that women took in Operation Desert Storm DACOWITS wanted to take away any laws that would limit womens positions in the Military. Women that played a big role in the success of the Operation disagreed with the DACOWITS because they had seen the conditions the women had to go through. But many of the people supported the them.

Women played a big role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The courage of many women was tested only 4 days after war had started. These women showed resourcefulness, integrity, and courage under fire. Three of the women who showed the most courage were: Private First Class Jessica Lynch, 19, Private First Class Lori Piestewa, 23, and specialist Shoshana Johnson, 30. Private Lynch was a supply clerk, she grew up in Palestine, West Virginia, when she joined the Military to travel and further her education. Private Piestewa was a softball player, she is divorced with two kids; a boy who is four and a girl who is three. Private Piestewa was raised on an Indian Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, she is a part of the Hopi Native American tribe. Specialist Johnson grew up in El Paso, Texas, on an Army Base. Johnson is a single mother of two year old girl and she joined the Military to be a cook.

All the women were apart of the 507th Maintenance Company. Their jobs were to repair the Army Vehicles and carry supplies. 507th Maintenance is not a combat unit, but they are armed with weapons incase they are fired upon. Army Vehicles would often break down because of the sandstorms so the 507th would work on the vehicles that broke down. The navigator made a wrong calculation while passing through Nasiriyah and this cause the 507th to go through a place called "Ambush Alley". The unit had entered the town near Ambush Alley and soon surrounded by Iraqi soldiers who fired upon them. When the 507th tried to return fire their guns jammed because of the sand. They had to surrender, they had no chance of defeating the Iraqi troops. Johnson was the first woman POW since the "Risk Rule" was lifted. Johnson could shoot an M-16 Rifle, but she joined to gain professional cooking skills. The maintenance units did not get special training because they were not at high risk to be captured. Many people had worried about the nineteen soldiers who were on the 507th who weren't shown on TV, two women were MIA after the capture. Lori Piestewa was one of the two MIA women. The Hopi tribal community gathered together to support and pray for Lori Piestewa. Jessica Lynch was the other MIA women. News reporters went to Palestine, WV to gather information about Jessica Lynch.

An Iraqi lawyer named Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief visits his wife who is a nurse at the Saddam Hussein Hospital in Nasiriyah. When Mohammed arrived he found soldiers of the Fedayeen roaming the halls of the hospital. The Fedayeen were Saddam’s most fierce and loyal soldiers. Fedayeen would terrorize the Iraqi citizens as well as the POWs. Mohammed soon noticed that they were guarding an American POW. Mohammed wanted to know who the POW was, but was denied access. Mohammed looked through the window of the room the POW was in and saw one soldier hitting the young women across the face multiple times. Mohammded decided he needed to help her. He walked six miles throughout the war zone so he could find the Marine checkpoint. The soldiers were suspicious when Mohammed approached but he told them what he had seen. The soldiers had CIA Agents confirmed what Mohammed had said and were convinced that the woman was MIA soldier Jessica Lynch. The CIA had alerted Special Operations to plan her rescue. The soldiers sent Mohammed back to the hospital two other times so he could gain more information to help them decide what the best way is to rescue her.

While Mohammed was at the hospital he created maps to help the rescue team find her. Saddam had forty one Fedayeen soldiers standing watch at the hospital to guard the POW. While at the hospital one day Mohammed snuck into her hospital room and assured her that everything would be ok. The known extent of her condition was that she had two broken legs. The doctors had planned to amputate one of the broken legs but Mohammed convinced them not to operate. Iraqi authorities became suspicious of Mohammeds trips to the hospital, they raided Mohammed's house. Mohammed went to the Americans for help to keep his family safe. The Americans took Mohammed, his wife and six year old daughter into protective custody. On April 1, the rescue mission was launched almost a month after the 507th was ambushed. The Special Operations team was made up of Marines, Army Rangers, Navy Seals, and Air Services.

The Marines created a distraction by attacking the Iraqi soldiers in Nasiriyah. As the attack continued spy planes hovered over the hospital. The Coalition troops set up positions around the hospital and then other soldiers stormed the hospital in search of Jessica Lynch. The Soldiers said that without Mohammed's maps they might not have found her. They Rescued Jessica on April 1, 2003. Lynch was the first POW who was successfully rescued behind enemy lines since WWII. Her final injuries were, a broken arm, two broken legs, head wound, and a fractured disc in her spine. After she was rescued she could remember everything but three hours. The three hours that she could not remember was when the humvee was captured until the time she woke up in the Saddam Hospital. She does not remember Mohammed visiting her or being slapped by the soldier but she is very thankful that he was there to help with her rescue. When looking for the other MIA soldiers the Coalition troops found a mass grave and two bodies in the hospital morgue.

One body was Private First Class Lori Piestewa, along with 6 other comrades form the 507th. Piestewa was the first servicewomen to be killed in the line of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom, she was also the first Native American to die in battle. Piestewa had severe injuries from the humvee attack and later died at the same hospital that Lynch was being held at. On April 11, the Military had a memorial service for the troops of the 507th. For the memorial service they lined seven helmets and seven combat boots to honor the brave fighters. The Marine 3rd Battalion entered Tikrit after they found the seven POWs. When they entered they saw Iraqi soldiers abandoned by their other Iraqi soldiers. The Iraqi soldiers said they knew where the seven other POWs were being held captive. The Marines went to where the Iraqi soldiers led them and they found all seven POWs alive. The POWs they found were, five members of the 507th, two helicopter pilots. Johnson was among this group. Johnson was shot in the foot but had no life threatening injuries. The second Persian Gulf War had the largest number of women sent into combat. Women made up fourteen percent of all volunteer Armed Forces. The Air Force was twenty percent women, Army had fifteen percent women, the Navy was made up of fourteen percent women, and women made up six percent of the Marines.

In 2001 there were three terrorist attacks that got carried out. The first and second were the Twin Tower attacks and the third was the Pentagon attack. There was one attack that was not carried out. What started the attacks were the Iraqi planes flying over the no fly zone. Saddam had tested his limits a lot. He had sent two tanks over to the Kuwait Iraq border. The US then sent 36,000 troops to Kuwait. The pressure of the Americans angered the Arabs. Osama Bin Laden vowed that he would lead a Jihad ("Holy War") against America. On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 went off course and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Soon after United Airlines Flight 175 flew into the South Tower. This happened just forty five minutes after the first tower was crashed into. At 9:40 American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon. This killed everyone on board, and more than 100 Defense Department employees.

The South Tower collapsed less than an hour after it was hit. When it collapsed it trapped and killed everyone trying to escape. Just twenty eight minutes after the South Tower collapsed the North Tower collapse. In less than an hour 3,000 people were killed. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This killed all the passengers including the three terrorists on board the plane. The passengers of Flight 93 knew that their plane was being used as a weapon. Some passengers stormed the cockpit to stop the terrorists. The Twin Towers were called Ground Zero. Ground Zero was viewed as a hallowed ground because of the many people who were buried there under the rubble. Americans learned that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks. Al Qaeda viewed the US as an evil empire, believed that their religious duty was to destroy the US. Al Qaeda was led by Osama Bin Muhammad Bin Laden. Bin Laden was admired for his involvement in the Holy War with the US.

In conclusion the book, The Brave Women of the Gulf War: operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom written by Karen Zeinert and Mary Miller, is a great book if you want to learn more about how the involvement of women played a big role in the Gulf Wars. The Women in this book showed so much bravery and changed history for women. If they had not been so brave the laws that limited women in war would probably never been lifted.