The News Of …

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf (who presided over the swift and devastating 1991 military assault on Iraq that transformed the Middle East and reminded America what it was like to win a war) died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 78.
The former four-star general, whose burly image towering in camouflage fatigues above his troops came to define both Operation Desert Storm and the nation’s renewed sense of military pride, had been living in relatively quiet retirement in Tampa, Fla., eschewing the political battles that continued to broil over a part of the world he had left as a conqueror.
“We’ve lost an American original” – the White House said in a statement. “Gen. Schwarzkopf stood tall for the country and Army he loved. Our prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family, who tonight can know that his legacy will endure in a nation that is more secure because of his patriotic service.”
Former President George H.W. Bush, hospitalized himself with an illness in Texas, called Schwarzkopf “a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation.”

Norman Schwarzkopf.

Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (the hard-charging U.S. Army general whose forces smashed the Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War) has died at the age of 78 – a U.S. official said on Thursday.
The highly decorated four-star general died at 2:22 p.m. EST (1922 GMT) at his home in Tampa, Florida, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran known to his troops as Stormin’ Norman, commanded more than 540,000 U.S. troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait in 1991, capping his 34-year military career.
Some experts hailed Schwarzkopf’s plan to trick and outflank Hussein’s forces with a sweeping armored movement as one of the great accomplishments in military history. The maneuver ended the ground war in only 100 hours.
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who built the international coalition against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait, said he and his wife “mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation” – according to a statement released by his spokesman.

The man who Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today called “one of the great military giants of the 20th century” died in Tampa, Fla., where he lived in retirement, the Associated Press reported.
“The men and women of the Department of Defense join me in mourning the loss of General Norman Schwarzkopf, whose 35 years of service in uniform left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country” – Panetta said in a statement. “My thoughts and prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family in this time of sadness and grief.”
Schwarzkopf, called “Stormin’ Norman” because of his reportedly explosive temper, led America to two military victories: a small one in Grenada in the 1980s and a big one as de facto commander of allied forces in the Gulf War in 1991.
“‘Stormin’ Norman’ led the coalition forces to victory, ejecting the Iraqi Army from Kuwait and restoring the rightful government” – read a statement by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. “His leadership not only inspired his troops, but also inspired the nation.”
“Gen. Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the ‘duty, service, country’ creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises” – Bush said. “More than that, he was a good and decent man – and a dear friend.”
Bush’s office released the statement though the former president, himself, was ill, hospitalized in Texas with a stubborn fever and on a liquids-only diet.