NORFOLK, Va. — It’s another look into the 13News Now archives.
The year was 1991. We were in the middle of the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm was about to start.
That year we fielded dozens of stories featuring one of our greatest military branches, the U.S. Marine Corps.
The branch turned 246 on November 10.
The Marines were one of the first units to respond in the 43-day Desert Storm operation.
The goal was to drive Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces out of Kuwait – something that was accomplished with relative ease.
We caught up with one local group of Marine Reservists returning home from the Middle East that year.
“It came to a point where I didn’t think we would come home. But then it became a matter of time,” said Corporal Tent Cooper of Norfolk.
We know the Marines would be called back to the desert more than 10 years later for the Iraq War -- once again, sacrificing themselves for our freedoms back home.
It is a small gesture, but one we always make on November 10, to say Happy Birthday, Marines!