The Lessons of the First Gulf War Still Linger 25 Years on

As the date for launching the Persian Gulf War approached 25 years ago, President George H.W. Bush was resolute in public, but privately he was filled with sadness and concern.

He knew what war was like, having served as a young Navy lieutenant whose torpedo bomber was shot down by the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II. As commander in chief, he understood that many soldiers might lose their lives or suffer grievous injuries, and that he was ultimately responsible for what happened to them.

Bush sat down on Dec. 31, 1990, New Year’s Eve, and wrote an emotional letter to his five children reflecting a father’s desire to reassure his children about the rightness of what he was about to do, and a commander in chief’s worries about those he was about to send into battle. USNews