European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 2, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 2, 1991the stars and stripes Page 9gulf paper Chase not Over yet Dod historians sift documents for look at War by Luke Britt Middle East bureaus me americans sent to the persian Gulf served As flies on the Walls of High level meetings watched troops fight in the desert and scribbled notes about everything seen and heard. As official military historians their Job during operations desert shield and storm was a seven month paper Chase. Now they Are sifting through the Sandy a boxes of notes and documents hey say Tell the real Story of the War. A we Are preparing the facts and images that will be the foundation for the eventual definitive View of this War a said maj. Guy Sanderson the Deputy command historian for the army in the Gulf. The results of their paper Chase Are thousands of pounds of a source documents a a including situation reports Bauer a a a a a and orders issued at every level commanders assessments logs tracking people and equipment press clippings and even letters to and from service members. The historians Many of them Reserve officers with doctoral degrees conducted thousands of interviews at every level from the lowest ranking soldiers and sailors to Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Thousands of photographs and thousands of hours of videotape were shot. Hundreds of paintings were begun by combat artists. At the height of the War More than 50 historians were working for the military in saudi Arabia. A during the War we took almost anything we could get a. Sanderson said. A now we re going through it All and determining no what is pertinent and what is  after the War the paper Chase gave Way to collecting military equipment left by the retreating iraqi army. _ historians estimate that 15 soviet made to series tanks were captured in Good enough condition for . Military museums As Well As hundreds of artillery pieces Small arms and miscellaneous pieces. A of course we were especially interested in iraqi equipment a said col. Charles j. Quilter ii command historian for the i Marine expeditionary Force. A but we ended up with More than we Ever planned to use. The american items of historical significance turned out to be harder to  some . Items the historians still want Are the tent in which the initial cease fire Between Allied and iraqi forces was signed and uniforms from the commanders of each service including one from Schwarzkopf. A this War went so fast a Sanderson said a that peo ele May not realize the magnitude of the event in the history of our nation. Generations to come will be interested in the men who ran this  already the leading military historians have reached a unanimous conclusion a that the White houses Lack of interference on the Battlefield made a Swift Victory a a. Is amps Luke Britt col. Charles j. Quilter ii command historian for the i Marine expeditionary Force examines an iraqi Rifle.  a there a no doubt that the president s1determination to fight this War without telling the military How to do it had a profound effect on the outcome a quilter said. A in that sense the experience of Vietnam was taken to  a. A a. A. A a a. A a a. A a a. A Sanderson added that the . Central come was Given certain objectives but a military commanders were the Wes who decided How to reach those  a a a a a ���.,. A a a a a.  � unlike Vietnam where the authority to attack was sometimes passed through several hands before a decision was made commanders in the Field were allowed to attack enemy targets a without delay once the Gulf ground War began Sanderson said. It it. Gen. Walter e. Boomer commander of the i Marine expeditionary Force told his commanders to a go quickly go violently a quilter said. Quot and that a what  one Issue the historians think will be talked about Long after the War is the relationship Between the Media and the military during a conflict. The Media on More than one occasion reported what the military considered sensitive information and in one instance Sanderson said it could have Given away the entire plan to flank the iraqis. A a a television reporter said on the air that he was with the 82nd airborne div and that artillery was being fired Over their Heads at the enemy Quot he said. A it just so happened that that was the Only shelling going on at the  an iraqi general who knew where the shelling occurred would have realized that the 82nd airborne was much farther to the West than his forces thought. A two sentences in a television report could have Given away our plan a Sanderson said. A a that a Why restrictions Are  an Issue within the military will be the redefining of the relationship Between air and ground forces the historians said particularly in regard to close air support. A the army feels its commanders should have total. Control of the Battlefield a Sanderson said. A that is not what happened Here. The air Force had control the air and some commanders Felt that Yas not in the Best interests of All the Battles. But it is the present system so they worked with  there were times when historians questions made an Issue of something that Wasny to said a Navy historian capt. Douglas Bauer. A women in a for instance a he said. A most military people seemed surprised that i found it  a Bauer said that report after report praised women a ability to work Well under pressure and without special  a Good portion of the people we spoke with said they were More in favor of women in the military now than they were before the War a Bauer said. A Given the rank of some of the people who Felt this Way i think its possible that this War could be used to try to Knock Down the last Barrier to women a full participation in the military a including combat roles. The historians arc now packing up their work and sending it Back to their respective military historical centers for analysis. ,. Historians at the centers will write the official history of the War but the first military analysis of operations desert shield and storm wont be published for about two years. During that time the historians know Many authors will publish books second guessing everything the military did in the War. But most of them Are confident their accounts will stand the test of time. A history is a Long View a quilter said. A we do not have a Complete Puzzle yet but every Day we get another  animals survived in Kuwait City zoo by Chuck Roberts Middle East Bureau Dhahran saudi Arabia a spec. Ginger Butler vividly remembers entering the Kuwait City zoo and finding an elephant a Baboon and a Hippopotamus roaming about. A it was the weirdest feeling to walk around with All these animals free a said Butler a Cloverdale calif., native with berlins 168th medical det. But those a animals were the exceptions. Fewer than 20 creatures survived in a zoo that had More than 400 animals before the aug. 2 iraqi invasion. Monkeys were found lying dead in their cages because of starvation. Gazelles were slaughtered for their meat. A the animals that survived appeared to suffer from disease malnutrition and psychological problems. , iraqi soldiers threw animal from the petting zoo into the cages of Lions tigers and bears according Quot to an employee who remained at the zoo during the War. The invading iraqis also made animals fight each other. R a a a zoo employee told spec. Andrew Lorenz that the iraqis would put a female Tiger and a male lion into the same pen for the enjoyment of watching them fight. _ Butler and Lorenz Are veterinary and food inspector specialists deployed As members of the 483rd medical det. / their unit along with a . Special forces medic and a British veterinarian were assigned to work at the zoo immediately after the War. A they Are now in the Dhahran area Iri spec Ting food bound for . Forces. Butler said the zoos Hippopotamus pen looked As though it had not been cleaned in seven months forcing the Ani Mal to swim in water full of urine and fees. Butler was one of the soldiers assigned to clean the pen during their several weeks in Kuwait City. One elephant developed a hatred of the sight of weapons Lorenz said. The elephant attacked a French Soldier and destroyed his Rifle but left the Soldier unharmed said the Wisconsin native from the 100thmedical det in Munchweiler Germany. A during their cleanup efforts at the zoo a Giraffe would follow Lorenz and Butler around like a pet dog. Lorenz said the towering Giraffe was particularly fond of Skittles Candy and would lower its head to take it from their hands. A a in addition to their efforts at the zoo the soldiers also drove through Kuwait City in a truck with a Large water tank in search of thirsty animals. But unlike zoo animals malnourished livestock did not roam the streets Butler said. Many cows goats and sheep were hidden inside Homes to prevent them from being stolen by Iraq soldiers. Kuwaiti interpreters helped them find the hidden animals which were dehydrated because their owners could not provide sufficient water during the War. The detachment soldiers also transported water to cattle and Dairy far fris where livestock had been slaughtered by the iraqi troops in Kuwait or taken to Baghdad after the invasion according to the kuwaiti press office in Dhahran. No numbers were available on total losses the office  it a. When iraqi soldiers commandeered the livestock kuwaitis were Given a receipt stating that they would be reimbursed when . Forces left saudi Arabia according to what the owners told Lorenz