30 Years Ago
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 14:52 last edited by
Remember?
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 14:54 last edited by
Hmmm... Eastern Airlines went out of business?
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 14:57 last edited by
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 14:58 last edited by
Thats the 17th
-
Remember?
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:02 last edited byWho would have remembered off hand that it was 12 years beteeen desert storm and the shock and awe of Baghdad?
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:02 last edited by
But yes.
Now the 'where were you' question. (when you found out we were actually at war)
I was walking around Dadeland Mall in Miami with a co-worker/buddy. We were in a Sharper Image store (remember those?) A woman was carrying a 'transistor radio' the size of a walkie talkie, no earphones, just holding it up to her ear, and announced 'we're at war'.
It was a much bigger deal then. Other than quick little actions at Grenada and Panama, we hadn't really done military action since Vietnam and there was a lot of public concern it wouldn't go well.
-
Who would have remembered off hand that it was 12 years beteeen desert storm and the shock and awe of Baghdad?
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:03 last edited by jon-nyc@loki said in 30 Years Ago:
Who would have remembered off hand that it was 12 years beteeen desert storm and the shock and awe of Baghdad?
I would have. Both years are seared in memory (91, 03)
As for 2003, I was in Shanghai when that bombing started. Saw it on TV.
-
But yes.
Now the 'where were you' question. (when you found out we were actually at war)
I was walking around Dadeland Mall in Miami with a co-worker/buddy. We were in a Sharper Image store (remember those?) A woman was carrying a 'transistor radio' the size of a walkie talkie, no earphones, just holding it up to her ear, and announced 'we're at war'.
It was a much bigger deal then. Other than quick little actions at Grenada and Panama, we hadn't really done military action since Vietnam and there was a lot of public concern it wouldn't go well.
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:04 last edited byA memory I had was that Schwarzkopf had three thousand body bags ready for the operation. I think how easy it was might have even exceeded the best case scenario. I also remember seeing Mad Max style photos of the devastation of the oil fields.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:06 last edited by
Yeah. And those Texas companies that went and put out all those oil fires.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:07 last edited by jon-nyc
That was also the beginning of the end of civilized air travel.
Prior to the gulf war, anyone could walk through (light) security and go to the gate to accompany a friend or meet someone you were picking up. No ticket, no ID required.
I lived in Chicago but was working in Miami. Every other weekend I'd fly my girlfriend down. I remember the first time I couldn't meet her at the gate. She was like 'WTF' when I saw her at baggage claim. No cell phones then, of course, so she didn't know I couldn't get past security.
-
But yes.
Now the 'where were you' question. (when you found out we were actually at war)
I was walking around Dadeland Mall in Miami with a co-worker/buddy. We were in a Sharper Image store (remember those?) A woman was carrying a 'transistor radio' the size of a walkie talkie, no earphones, just holding it up to her ear, and announced 'we're at war'.
It was a much bigger deal then. Other than quick little actions at Grenada and Panama, we hadn't really done military action since Vietnam and there was a lot of public concern it wouldn't go well.
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:18 last edited by@jon-nyc said in 30 Years Ago:
Now the 'where were you' question. (when you found out we were actually at war)
At home reading newspapers. (Remember those?)
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:19 last edited by
@jon-nyc said in 30 Years Ago:
Thats the 17th
And nobody mentioned it, as far as I'm aware, so yes, I'm 10 hours off and give no fuck.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:21 last edited by
I saw it on the TV. It was a big deal for us because my uncle was already over there for Desert Shield. He stayed for the duration.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:23 last edited by
Yep I remember it well. We were having dinner at Cactus Pear, heard that on our way out and sat in the bar for quite a while watching it as it started.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 15:25 last edited by
I was in my dorm room and we heard a call to “come check this shit out!” and we walk went to the common room and watched on CNN. At 18 years old and recently registered with Selective Service, we were particularly interested.
I turned to my roommate and asked him to marry me. My guess is that wouldn’t work anymore...
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 16:21 last edited by
I was 8... so to help me with context, was this a complete surprise for most of the public?
I know time/tech/info has changed so "back then" was it not clear a military engagement was imminent? The "where were you" reminds me of surprise events like JFK assassination or 9/11.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 16:43 last edited by jon-nyc
By the time it happened it wasn’t really a surprise, the best way I can describe it is it still seemed like a bit of a step into the unknown in a way that no recent military actions have.
We still had “quagmire phobia” after Vietnam.
We then lost it after desert storm, only to catch it again 15-20 years later.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 17:00 last edited by
I remember seeing Peter Jennings on ABC on the kitchen TV when I came home from work.
And Wolf Blitzer in the hotel describing the cruise missiles
A friend of mine was the guy shooting those missiles from his B-52.
-
By the time it happened it wasn’t really a surprise, the best way I can describe it is it still seemed like a bit of a step into the unknown in a way that no recent military actions have.
We still had “quagmire phobia” after Vietnam.
We then lost it after desert storm, only to catch it again 15-20 years later.
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 17:04 last edited byMy memory is that it was auspicious but not so risky. Of course no one thought through all the follow on actions that gave rise to Iran as a regional power. The miscalculations by Saddam as to our responses and our lack of foresight to losing an evenly pitted Iraq and Iran deserves serious study. I’d love to read that history book.
-
wrote on 18 Jan 2021, 17:04 last edited by Copper
And then the Highway of Death
I took these pictures on the Highway of Death 11 years earlier, it wasn't the Highway of Death back then, just some camels roaming wild.
image url)
image url)
image url)
