Sharon Koehler

Stone Industry Consultant

History tells us that in 1990, then president, George H.W. Bush, with the help of Secretary of State James A. Baker III put together a coalition of over 30 countries including: Canada, Australia, Kuwait, France, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain to combat Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and feared invasion of Saudi Arabia. On August 7, 1990, Desert Shield was launched in defense of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia against Iraq’s aggression. 

Architectural renderings of the proposed Desert Storm Veterans Memorial show a central granite monument within a spiraling installation. The low walls bear sculptures of soldiers.
Architectural renderings of the proposed Desert Storm Veterans Memorial show a central granite monument within a spiraling installation. The low walls bear sculptures of soldiers.

Architectural renderings of the proposed Desert Storm Veterans Memorial show a central granite monument within a spiraling installation. The low walls bear sculptures of soldiers.
Architectural renderings of the proposed Desert Storm Veterans Memorial show a central granite monument within a spiraling installation. The low walls bear sculptures of soldiers.

On January 17, 1991, under the command of General H Norman Schwarzkopf, Operation Desert Shield transitioned over to Operation Desert Storm as the air offensive began. General Schwarzkopf is still credited to this day for coming up with the “Left Hook” strategy that ended the war quickly, saving thousands of lives. By February 28, 1991, it was all over. Kuwait was liberated and Saudi Arabia had been defended. 

Almost 20 years later, in 2010, Marine Lance Corporal Scott Stump, a Desert Storm veteran, thought that, maybe, people were undervaluing and forgetting about the Desert Shield/Desert Storm war that lasted from August 1990 through February 1991. He wanted it to be remembered by all and not just a footnote in American History. So, he founded the National Desert Storm Memorial Association, a non-profit organization. The Goal: A Desert Shield/ Desert Storm War Memorial in Washington, DC.

Scott created a board of veterans to organize and run the non-profit. He also did some fund raising and walked the halls of Congress to try and drum up support for the project. Scott knew he needed renderings to help his fund-raising efforts. For that, he called upon CSO, an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

CSO agreed to help and because of the nature of the project, they decided to help at no charge. The project then landed on the desk of Randy Schumacher in 2012. Randy studied the approximately 100 sites in Washington DC that are set aside for memorials. He picked a beautiful site not too far from the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. However, according to Randy, he didn’t want to take this project on without veteran input. Randy created a survey and sent it to the veteran data base of Scott’s non-profit. He wanted input from the people this memorial was most important to. 

20 months after he was handed the project, Randy completed the first set of drawings. The drawings are of a curved wall made of granite to symbolize the sand dunes in the terrain the war was fought on and the arc of the “Left Hook” offensive that helped the coalition free Kuwait and defend Saudi Arabia. Armed with Randy’s drawings, Scott Stump went back to Congress for a vote. The vote was 360 to 0, getting the memorial the Congressional support it needed. 

At this time, The Olin Studio, a premier landscape and urban design firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania took over the project. Skip Graffam, landscape architect with Olin Studio, has been working with this project and pushing it forward ever since Olin took it over. The project broke ground on July 14, 2022, and is scheduled to be completed on Veterans Day, November 11, 2024. Present at the groundbreaking were the board of the National Desert Storm Memorial Association (all veterans), representatives from CSO and Olin Studio, plus His Excellency Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait. 

Even though the original design has changed, the curved granite wall still remains the focus of the project. The site is drawn to be approximately 200 feet x 200 feet. The granite wall itself will be approximately 7 feet tall. The fear was that if it was much taller it would obstruct the Lincoln Memorial. 

Oddly enough though, while the project does have a completion date, they have not yet picked the color of the granite for the wall. They are looking for a color that best represents the color of the sand dunes. We wish them luck.

Left: Randy Schumacher with a Desert Storm veteran, attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the Desert Storm War Memorial (below), in Washington, DC.

Left: Randy Schumacher with a Desert Storm veteran, attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the Desert Storm War Memorial (below), in Washington, DC.


If you wish to learn more about the war, the memorial or if you wish to donate, please visit www.ndswm.org. 

To follow the progress of the memorial, visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NationalDesertStormWarMemorial. 


On a side note, there are four different people the Slippery Rock needs to thank: Number 1 – To all our veterans of Desert Shield/Desert Storm and to all our veterans everywhere, we thank you for your service. Number 2 – Scott Stump, we thank you for your service and to your dedication to this project. Lastly, we thank you for showing the world that one man can make a difference. Number 3 – Randy Schmacher, we thank you for taking the time to talk to us and tell us this story. And number 4 – Trey Monday of BBG Granite in Virginia, we thank you for bringing this significant and worthwhile project to our attention.