What is the Gulf War?
The first Gulf War was sparked by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The United States deployed military units to Saudi Arabia as a part of Operation Desert Shield, while the United Nations formed a coalition of nearly three dozen member states. The United States led the fighting, known as Operation Desert Storm, which began in January 1991. By February 28, 1991, the war was over. An official cease-fire was signed in April 1991, and the last US troops who participated in the ground war returned home on June 13, 1991. In all, about 697,000 US troops had been deployed to the Gulf region during the first Gulf War. Operation Iraqi Freedom is creating a new group of Gulf War veterans.
