[David Murvihill]

I recently got some of my Navy photos digitized, thought you'd like to see them. First, I was the Main Propulsion Assistant on USS Lasalle, AGF-3. It was COMUSNAVCENT's flagship in the Persian Gulf, and had been permanently deployed there for about ten years. It was considered a hardship tour, one year, no dependents. It was also considered a "Silver Bullet" for your career; that meant that afterwards the detailers would give you special consideration for your next tour. Two weeks before I was scheduled to walk onboard, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and since everyone went the the Persian Gulf for Desert Shield and Desert Storm, No Silver Bullet for me. I left the gulf a year later after seeing the war from the deckplates of the mainspaces, and got out of the Navy about nine months later.

Anyhow, here's a pic of me at the time. The guy standing behind me was the Chief Engineer of the Lasalle. I was alot thinner then...

 

[David Murvihill]

Al Shuaiba, Kuwait

After Desert Storm ended we pulled into Al Shuaiba, Kuwait. We were the first deep-draft vessel to enter the harbor after the invasion, and the UDT teams had a heck of a time clearing the harbor of mines. There was a ton of oil in the water (Hussein flooded the ocean with oil, planning to light it if the Marines stormed the beach. Can you say Ecological Nightmare?) Anyway, the divers couldn't clear the mines because the oil ruined their diving equipment, and they couldn't clear the oil because of the threat of mines. Finally, they made a little loop out of an oil float (used to isolate oil spills), cleared the oil out of that and dove through that under the oil slick to clear the mines. The sky was half-black because of the oil fires from burning wells (did I mention Hussein was an ass?)

 

[David Murvihill]

LCT

Across the pier from us at Al Shuaiba was an Army LCT with its tank deck full of Marine engineering equipment and some captured stuff going home as trophies. Also included are a few closeups of a civilian vessel the Iraqis captured and armed with AAMG's (for all the good it did them).

 

[David Murvihill]

"The Valley of Death"

After it dawned on the Iraqi's that their goose was cooked they started fleeing Kuwait City on the main road going north from the city into Iraq. A10's blew up the front and rear of the column, then ranged up and down it, blowing up anything that moved. The vehicles pulled around the blown up vehicles onto the shoulders where they too were blown up. Tanks drove north about 50 yards off from the highway (and were blown up too). By the time we took our tour the road itself had been cleared, filling up a loop of a nearby clover loop with burnt out vehicles. Also included are a coupla pics of American equipment we saw along the way.

 

[David Murvihill]

Ships

Here's a bunch of ships we saw while out there.

 

[Michael Jon Littman]

Amazing photos. Thanks so much for posting them.

 

[bigbang]

David, great pics!! And much more trouthworthy than the offical press photos.
Wolf

 

[rickyracer2]

Fantastic photos thanks!

 

[woodsrunner 38 InMemoriam]

Thanks for posting the photos! Sorry I missed all the fun! Retired out several months before all the excitement went down....intel staff, Central Command, McDill.

 

[davef]

Nice pictures..I especially looked close at al the ships...My kid brother was out there somewhere on one of them, USS Nassau , he was in a Marine Harrier unit, Similar in size to that small helocopter carrier .Is that the "Belleu Wood" possibly ?

 

[David Murvihill]

Nice pictures..I especially looked close at al the ships...My kid brother was out there somewhere on one of them, USS Nassau , he was in a Marine Harrier unit, Similar in size to that small helocopter carrier .Is that the "Belleu Wood" possibly ?

The Nassau was an LHA. It is boxier, bigger and has a bigger island than the LPH in the photo. I know the Iwo Jima and Tripoli were in the gulf during Desert Storm, so it's probably one of those two.

Thanks,
Dave M.

 

[thebohunk]

Navys not my schtick, but was one of those ships the Missouri?

Nice pics, as always David. And thank you for your service as well.

 

[mariko]

My daughter was there on a Canadian supply ship " Preserver ",these are the medals the Saudis handed out, our govt. wont let them wear them,how about US personnel ?

 

[Noble Sniper]

Great pics Thanks for sharing them adn thank you for your service

 

[David Murvihill]

My daughter was there on a Canadian supply ship " Preserver ",these are the medals the Saudis handed out, our govt. wont let them wear them,how about US personnel ?

We were allowed to wear them. Unfortunately I (stupidly) didn't check a box of clothes I gave away after I left the Navy and gave all my medals away. Not too big a loss, I only wore the medals once (wedding).

 

[David Murvihill]

Navys not my schtick, but was one of those ships the Missouri?

Nice pics, as always David. And thank you for your service as well.

That's the Wisconson. It's one of a sequence I took when it did a sailpast on Lasalle. If anyone really wants to see them say so and I'll sort out the order and post it. There're pics of the Mighty Mo and both battlewagons together on the "Battleships" thread.

 

[Bill-Rube]

Thanks for sharing the pics!

And thanks for your service!