Women at War by Scott Baron

Author:Scott Baron [Wise, E. James; Baron, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612514079
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

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Rebecca Moore was interviewed by Kate Scott in Arlington, Virginia, on 8 December 2005. The tape and transcript are deposited at The Women’s Memorial in Arlington. Photo courtesy of the Moore Collection

Maj. Marie T. Rossi-Cayton, USA

On 2 August 1990 Iraq invaded its southern neighbor, oil-rich Kuwait. More than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers overran the small nation in six days. Iraq President Saddam Hussein justified his action by accusing Kuwait of deliberately harming his nation by encroaching on its territory, stealing its oil, and destroying its economy. Censured by the United Nations Security Council, a trade embargo was imposed on Iraq and occupied Kuwait.

When Iraqi troops began to mass on the Saudi Arabian border, the Saudi government requested that President Bush deploy American forces to safeguard its border, fearing that Iraq might invade their country. Bush agreed and, with the pledge of support from other countries, a multinational force was positioned in Saudi Arabia by the end of 1990 to counter a potential attack by Iraq. This defensive deployment became known as Desert Shield.

The United Nations Security Council gave Iraq until 15 January 1991 to unconditionally withdraw from Kuwait. Although America and Iraq representatives met several times to discuss the growing crisis, Iraq continued to occupy Kuwait. On 17 January 1991 U.S. attack aircraft bombed targets in Iraq and Kuwait and multinational ground forces crossed the Saudi border to engage the Iraq army. The war ended within four days when a defeated Iraqi army surrendered in mass numbers as other troops fled Kuwait.

U.S. forces in the war numbered approximately 700,000, of which 33,300 were women. The women participated in a vast array of support roles including the flying of unarmed helicopters, transport aircraft, and AWACS planes.

Among the American military personnel captured during the war were two servicewomen, Maj. Rhonda Cornum, an army flight surgeon, and Spc4 Melissa Rathbun-Nealy. Both were later released. Thirteen military women were killed during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

The last of those who lost their lives in Desert Storm was Maj. Marie T. Rossi-Cayton, an army helicopter pilot who was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Air Medal posthumously. She was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on 11 March 1991, the only female Gulf War casualty to be so honored at that time.1

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