Thoughts on Our Way to Kuwait — January 2, 2003
On January 2nd, 2003, when these first journal entries were written, the United States had not yet officially announced an invasion of Iraq. That announcement would come in March. But troops were already moving — quietly, steadily, in the months following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Our 400-passenger planes were consistently full. Kuwait was the primary staging ground, the main gateway through which American forces would eventually flow into Iraq.
By the time the invasion began on March 20th, 2003, approximately 148,000 American troops had been deployed to the region. Over the course of the war, more than 1.5 million U.S. service members would serve. 4,424 would not come home.
The men and women on these flights didn't know all of that yet. They only knew they were going. These are the words they wrote on the way.
If you were on these flights, or know someone who was, or just found your way here--your story doesn't end here. I want to hear from you.