Part 2 – Hoping to return home

Gathering in support of Kuwait’s liberation-Malaga, Spain 1990

The month of January was dreary, cold, and rainy in southern Spain, which fit our mood. No matter how hard my husband and I tried to stay positive about the outcome of “Desert Storm” the operational name for the Coalition’s offensive to reclaim Kuwait, it was more and more difficult as the weeks and months dragged on.

The boys continued their school schedule and we attended events to ensure they felt we were involved in their day to day lives. My five year old was learning how to read by sight words since his school followed the British system, and my three year old was managing to communicate in Spanish with his classmates and teachers. One of the hardest parts of this experience was trying to keep our daily lives as ‘normal” as possible when they weren’t normal at all.

We missed Kuwait very much and especially our regular, weekly visits to my mother-in-law. As the months went by, we heard less and less about how she and the rest of our family, those who hadn’t fled, were managing and worried so much about their health and mental state. We had no idea where she was staying or if she had enough to eat.

The news reports from the major networks and personal anecdotes from inside Kuwait that we were hearing about were upsetting and uplifting at the same time. The upsetting news was Kuwaitis who were found to be working with the Resistance, were rounded up and taken to Iraqi jails or holding centers, if they were lucky. Those who were not so lucky immediately lost their lives. In total, one thousand Kuwaitis were killed and more than 600 remain missing. On a more positive note, the Resistance members and others who stayed behind were distributing money and food rations to families who were unable to go out by themselves. They were afraid because there were checkpoints everywhere and people were randomly rounded up and sent away.

Desert Storm, as the Gulf War was called, began in the air and sea on January 17th, 1991. Countries allied with the United States and Kuwaiti government in exile had a military plan for liberating Kuwait. The Kuwaiti community and our neighbors in Spain took a wait and see attitude trying to stay hopeful that the coalition of countries would stay together long enough to free Kuwait. In support of these efforts, Kuwaitis and locals joined together and held demonstrations to highlight the necessity to continue. We carried Kuwaiti flags and wore Free Kuwait sweatshirts. It was so helpful that the local populations around the world supported our cause. Similar demonstrations occurred in many major cities where Kuwaitis had fled to or remained on August 2, 1990. This feeling remains until today. We will never forget those who sent messages, stood with us in the cold, and shared their sorrow about what was happening to our dear country.

For five long weeks we watched as CNN, Sky News and BBC showed videos of the air strikes and we listened intently to find out what targets were being hit. At first, most of the action seemed to be within Iraq; however, by the end of the first month, it was obvious that targets inside Kuwait were also being hit by missiles. We hoped that everyone had found safe shelter and remained safe, but we had no news anymore from Kuwait.

Finally, the end of the invasion seemed near. President George H. W. Bush announced in late February that the war would be ended in the next 100 hours. We were sceptical but hopeful. It had been hard to even imagine a time when we would be able to return home. We had just moved into a newly built house and stayed there for only six weeks before we traveled to America with the kids. Was it possible we could be going back? How long would it take before we could return? What would it be like when we arrived? There was so much emotion to deal with.

Kuwait celebrates its National Day on February 25th. We were hoping that we could also celebrate its Liberation on that date. But the day passed and there was no news confirming the end of the war. In fact, we began hearing that as the coalition troops entered Kuwait from the Saudi border, the Iraqis had begun to set fire to Kuwait’s oil installations in southern region of Kuwait*. We all wondered: What kind of damage was that doing to the environment? How were the ground fighting and the oil fires affecting Kuwait? Were the fires affecting those who remained in the country? Nobody seemed to have those answers until February 26th when we began to see videos of tanks belonging to the U.S. army rolling through the streets of Kuwait and being greeted by relieved citizens.

My brother-in-law called us from London to say he was going into Kuwait with one of the first groups to be allowed in after Liberation. We were ecstatic since he would be able to tell us first hand how my mother-in-law and other relatives were feeling. We hoped for the best, but braced ourselves for the worst. (to be continued)

*In total, almost 700 oil fires were set

Free Kuwait-Malaga, Spain 1990