Members of the Louisiana National Guard were honored Friday for their efforts 30 years ago in Operation Desert Storm.
The event was put together by the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs and held in the courtyard of the Pentagon Barracks across from the State Capitol.
More than 1,800 Louisiana National Guard members were deployed for Desert Storm, the effort to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Another 6,600 were mobilized. 700,000 U.S. troops were deployed in total.
"The impacts of this war showed our adversaries they could not compete with us in conventional warfare, and reshaped the way our adversaries view us today," Major General Keith Waddell said during the ceremony. "The veterans of Desert Storm overwhelmingly defeated one of world's largest militaries in less than a month and a half...that's quite and accomplishment."
The U.S. and its allies flew more than 116,000 combat air missions in the 39 days that preceded the ground campaign. It was so successful, the ground campaign was over in 100 hours.
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