St. Petersburg High School 1991 Yearbook (St. Petersburg, FL) - Full Access

Right: The final countdown. American Troops begin mobilization on the border between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to prepare for what they hope to be a " quick resolution" to the Persian Gulf crisis. 430 • Closing/ World Events Crisis in Persian Gulf Gives Us . . . The century closed, a new decade was dawning, and we sat, glued to our televisions desperately awaiting news. 15 days into the new year found people, the world over, nervously listening and waiting for a sign. Would America declare war on Iraq? Would Hussein change his mind before the time ran out? In late August, we watched as Hussein rolled his Republican Guard over his oil-rich was not to last. President Bush set a deadline for unconditional surrender by Hussein for January 15th. The day passed without a word from Iraq, and on January 16, 1991, the United States plunged into war . As we sat down to watch our favorite sitcom, the U.S. began the first of its over 80,000 bombing sorties on strategic military positions in Iraq and Kuwait. We gasped when or Reflection neighbor, Kuwait. Within hours, President Bush rallied every country in the world from ally, Great Britain, to enemy, Egypt, to apply economic sanctions through the United Nations . The United States rushed its troops to Saudi Arabia, and thus began the waiting. However, this wait Hussein dumped billions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf, the first to wage ''environmental warfare ." The war in the Gulf was the first to see a woman soldier taken prisoner, and reports were carefully previewed by the military before they were aired on national T.V. Students were given their chance to voice their opinions in a survey given to every fifth student through English classes. Approximately 8% of the student body responded to the poll and the results ran parallel to popular thought in the "adult" community. (See bar graph to extreme right.) Whether we approved of the war or not, it was a reality we were forced to face . We followed the news religiously; we discussea It in our classrooms. Some of us carried the burden of worry around with us, even as we slept. At the time of this writing, the conflict was not over, but we hoped for a "quick" resolution . Whatever the outcome, we know that this was an episode in our lives not easily forgotten. - Kira Scherer