Gulf War Commander Schwarzkopf dies at 78

WASHINGTON

Gen Schwarzkopf (L) is seen with former President Bush in this 1991 photo. AFP photo

Norman Schwarzkopf, the U.S. general who drove Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait in 1991 as commander of the lightning campaign known as Operation Desert Storm, died Dec. 27 at the age of 78.

Schwarzkopf, known as “Stormin’ Norman,” died from complications related to a recent bout with pneumonia in Tampa, where he retired after his last posting as head of U.S. Central Command, which controls operations in the Middle East and South Asia. “We’ve lost an American original,” U.S. President Barack Obama said. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Schwarzkopf, a hulking bruiser of a commander with an explosive temper, had in “35 years of service in uniform left an indelible imprint on the United States military and the country.”

Former President George H. W. Bush was among the first to issue a statement mourning the loss of the man he chose to lead the war that came to define both of their careers. “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.

Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran, commanded more than 540,000 U.S. troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Hussein’s army from Kuwait in 1991, capping a 34-year career that led him to the Army’s four-star general rank.