Memorial for Gulf War veterans nears opening in October

WASHINGTON — Veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm will have a memorial on the National Mall in October, more than 35 years after the Persian Gulf War.

“We’re probably 90% complete. We’re far from kicking our feet up on the desk,” Scott Stump, president and CEO of the National Desert Storm Memorial Association, told reporters on a tour of the memorial. “But let’s commemorate what this represents and who it represents.”

The memorial, scheduled to be dedicated Oct. 24, honors the nearly 700,000 Americans who served during the war. It sits near Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street NW, a short walk from both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

The Gulf War was an armed conflict in which the U.S. led an international coalition in response to Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait. The war consisted of two phases: Operation Desert Shield (August 1990-January 17, 1991), which focused on the defense of neighboring Saudi Arabia; and Operation Desert Storm (Jan. 17-Feb. 28, 1991), the campaign to liberate Kuwait.

A national military parade was held in Washington in June 1991 to celebrate the U.S. victory. The U.S. Park Police estimated the crowd at 200,000, The Associated Press reported at the time.

The opening design element honors a key strategy that helped secure the victory. As you enter the memorial from the left, the intent is to commemorate the “left hook” formation that U.S. troops used to move north and then east during Desert Storm, effectively cutting off Iraqi forces in Kuwait.

The Desert Storm Memorial on the National Mall on Thursday, July 30, 2026, as construction nears completion. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

At the center sits a massive coalition shield engraved with the names of countries that joined the effort to liberate Kuwait.

The shield will also serve as a fountain where water will emerge from beneath it and flow through channels across the memorial, said Skip Graffam, design partner at OLIN and the National Desert Storm Memorial’s lead landscape architect.

Protective coverings currently conceal a falcon and eagle that represent Kuwait and the U.S., Graffam said. They will be revealed when the memorial opens.

“The idea (is) that they’re flying in relation to each other, but the Kuwait Sacred Falcon is flying off on its own eventually. It’s been liberated,” Graffam said.

The effort to get a memorial started for Stump in 2010.

Scott Stump, left, president and CEO of the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association, and Skip Graffam, design partner at OLIN and the memorial’s lead landscape architect, speak at the Desert Storm Memorial on Thursday, July 30, 2026, as construction nears completion. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

Stump, a Marine reservist in the infantry during Desert Storm, is modest about his service.

“Guarded a lot of bombs, guarded a lot of aircraft, and the only distinction I probably have in a very undistinguished military career … I’m probably the only one out of 700,000 who completed their B.S. degree in a foxhole in Saudi Arabia,” Stump added.

In 2010 as the 20th anniversary of Desert Storm was approaching, Stump realized the war and the troops were not being properly recognized and remembered.

“I guess I’m just one of those that, you know, (has a) hard head or whatever you want to call it, (I was) persistent and stayed with it,” Stump said. “I had no idea what it was going to entail on the front side. I don’t think anybody could.”

In June 2013, former Rep. Phil Roe, D-Tenn., introduced legislation in Congress to allow construction on federal land in Washington.

President Barack Obama authorized construction of the memorial in 2014, and President Donald Trump signed legislation in 2017 allowing for the memorial to be built near the National Mall.

The memorial was originally slated to be on the Constitution Avenue Belvedere, a strip of land along the Potomac River. Members of the National Desert Storm War Memorial Association opposed the location because they said it was too isolated and difficult for visitors to walk to from other memorials.

The Desert Storm Memorial on the National Mall on Thursday, July 30, 2026, as construction nears completion. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

In 2018, after the National Capital Planning Commission decided on the southwest corner of 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue, the Commission of Fine Arts voted in favor of the new location, marking the end of a multiyear process to select the site.

The location “comes with a lot of restrictions,” Graffam explained because they could not make the memorial too tall and obstruct views.

“But it was worth the location,” Graffam said.

The National Park Service has estimated the memorial could see 5 to 6 million visitors each year, he added.

The memorial’s proximity to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is significant because many of the younger enlisted troops and officers who served in Vietnam ended up serving as senior commanders during Desert Storm, the architect said. It is also close to the State Department, whose diplomatic efforts were important to the war.

The memorial is expected to cost more than $40 million. Stump said the State of Kuwait is the project’s largest donor with more than $25 million.

Stump hopes that visitors are inspired by the memorial.

“The coalition ... that’s something to celebrate,” he said. “You tell people that you had 30-some-odd countries – different languages, different religions, five continents of the world – come together. People would look at you like you’re crazy, like that’s impossible. No, it happened. I mean, what a great story.”