Farewell Dinner and the Sand-Table House: April 2-4, 1991

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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A Farewell Dinner, April 2, 1991

April 3, 1991

 

A route map for the trip home. The red arrows read:

  • This is North, Sir. The way we wanted to go last time when you got lost
  • This is Water. Do not drive here, sir.
  • This is your military south, sir. This is the way we want to go this time, sir.

Judging from the appended note, he took it in good humor. The note reads: "To the fighting 432d: Someone 'found' my --MAP--. Thus, we can (all) go home! Please sign (So I remember who's responsible for this...) Thanks, Mike."

Kuwait, April 4, 1991

Oil on the beach near the Kuwait Towers. Beyond the barbed wire are mines.

Although we saw many examples of pointless Iraqi vandalism in Kuwait, this one takes the cake, or pizza. A burned-out ShowBiz Pizza parlor. The sign on the roof spells out "Show Biz Pizza Place" phonetically in Arabic.
Next door, a derailed kiddie train. A crack Iraqi unit single-handedly took out 100 per cent of Kuwait's rail transportation!

The Sand-Table House

This was a palace belonging to a member of the royal family. The Iraqis used it for a divisional headquarters.
SSG Bill Seija (left) and SSG Wally Coyle (right) at the entrance.
The grand staircase inside.
Looking down from the grand staircase.
A toughra, or elaborate Arabic monogram.
Typical of how the Iraqis trashed many of the places they occupied.
Given the vandalism we'd seen, we were astonished to see this multi-story glass chandelier intact. When the Iraqis were ordered to behave, they did.

The walls surrounding the chandelier are mirrored.

Off the chandelier atrium is a room said to have been used for torture. The bare bedsprings were probably hooked up to an electrical generator.

The sand-table itself, a huge three-dimensional map of Kuwait, was in a basement and measured about ten meters square. By this time we could recognize just about everything on it.

Down the street from the sand-table house is this attractive mosque.


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Created January 12, 2000; Last Update January 12, 2000

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