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WASHINGTON (Army News Service, March 3, 1999) -- "I'm sorry I couldn't bring them all back to you," said a weeping Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf at the eighth-annual Gulf War "No Greater Love" Remembrance Ceremony Sunday [Feb. 28] at Arlington National Cemetery.
The ceremony paid tribute to the more than 400 Americans who lost their lives in Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Provide Comfort.
Schwarzkopf, retired since 1991, quoted from a Broadway play about Benjamin Franklin coming back to life after 200 years. Franklin wondered whether Americans of the 20th Century would be willing to give their lives to protect liberty and personal freedoms.
"If Benjamin Franklin were alive today," Schwarzkopf said, "I would proudly show him the men and women that we are honoring here today.
"They were my troops," he continued, "and they made the ultimate sacrifice, and by doing so reminded us of something we've been reminded of over and over again: freedom is not a cost-free product. Freedom is bought and paid for over and over again by the blood and the guts and the limbs and the lives of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
"We'll never forget them. They were truly, truly the best thing that America has to offer the world," Schwarzkopf said.
Guest speakers at the ceremony also included U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nathaniel Howell, ambassador to Kuwait from 1987 to 1991, and Mohammed Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ambassador.
The ceremony began with "Morning Has Broken," sung by U.S. Army Chorus soloist Staff Sgt. Henry Fiske, accompanied by U.S. Army Chorus pianist Staff Sgt. Raffi Kasparian.
After the invocation by retired Navy Capt. Bill Perry, the No Greater Love chaplain, the colors were presented by a joint-service color guard and audience members recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
"I bring you greetings, but I also bring you acknowledgment of the great sacrifices you have made and to salute our families and to help honor our fallen warriors," Hagel said, "For that we are a better nation, a stronger nation, a stronger society. For the contributions you have made, your loved ones have made, we are in your debt."
Following Hagel, Al-Sabah offered his thanks. "Today, as the representative of Kuwait, I stand before you to pay tribute to the men and women whose sacrifices eight years ago made that liberation [of Kuwait] possible," Al-Sabah said.
"I am speaking of your sons and daughters, your husbands and wives, your brothers and sisters and of your fathers and mothers. These martyrs and you, their loved ones, are our heroes and have our everlasting gratitude. Kuwaitis salute your strength and share your sorrow," he added.
Following the speeches, Kuwaiti children, escorted by representatives of the United States, Egypt, France, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, placed flags on the Remembrance Panel, while Fiske sang "On Eagle's Wings."
Junior ROTC units from area high schools, representing the four armed services, and the No Greater Love Honor Guard then placed roses on grave sites of Persian Gulf casualties.
Mishaal Abdullah Al-Darm, a Kuwaiti child, recited the No Greater Love Pledge of Peace in Arabic. The pledge was then recited in English by Kyle Anderson, son of Blackhawk pilot Michael Anderson who was killed in the Gulf.
Sons, daughters, nieces and nephews of service members killed in the Persian Gulf War placed roses at the No Greater Love Memorial Stone, each flower a token of a sacrifice. The ceremony concluded with Al-Sabah, Hagel, Howell, Schwarzkopf and Carmella LaSapada, founder of No Greater Love, laying a remembrance wreath at the memorial stone while Fiske and Kasparian performed the song "Somewhere."
As the crowd began to disperse, the rain that had fallen lightly throughout the morning, but stopped abruptly minutes before noon, began anew. Not one of the raindrops, which Chaplain Perry had called tears from heaven, fell on the ceremony.
(Army Editor's note: Fahrig is a staff writer for the Military District of Washington's Pentagram.)
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