ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY — As we remember 9/11, one Gulf War veteran says the story really began a decade earlier — in the desert sands of 1990.
WATCH: Anne Arundel County veteran connects Desert Storm to 9/11
Russell Ware served more than 25 years in the U.S. Air Force. He rose to the rank of Master Sergeant, serving as Section Chief of Base Defense for the 802nd Security Forces Squadron, a Security Craftsman, and in other leadership roles around the world. Today, he is the Director of Crownsville Veterans Cemetery in Maryland, but the memories of war remain close.
Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991 after months of rising tension in the Middle East. In August 1990, Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait. In response, a U.S.-led coalition of 35 nations launched Operation Desert Shield to build up troops in Saudi Arabia. When the deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal expired, Operation Desert Storm commenced on January 17, 1991, marked by an air campaign followed by a 100-hour ground offensive that quickly pushed Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
Ware was among the thousands deployed to Saudi Arabia during that campaign.
“We're used to long conflicts wherever we go. When Desert Storm happened, it was like, ‘Hey, look at the great mite that we are. As a military force, we can end this within months.’ Well, we really didn't end it within months; it wasn't as decisive, at least from my perspective and from what I saw on the ground.”
He believes that the fight set off a domino effect, leading directly to September 11th.
“I connect that day… it felt familiar, it wasn't as tremendous a heartfelt shock as 9/11 was because it happened to us,” said Ware.
He added, “In Desert Storm, we were the doers; we were doing what we had to do in order to stop this evil that was going on and invading Kuwait, a sovereign country with which we were an ally… How do I relate that to that day? It again it just seems like the next chapter in the book, it's the next chapter in the war. Feel like I was reading on a continuation.”
September 11, 2001 became one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes, crashing two into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, another into the Pentagon, and a fourth in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed. The attacks spurred a new era of war — the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and topple the Taliban, followed by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
After 9/11, Ware deployed again and again — seventeen times in total. Each deployment brought new challenges and new losses.
“One of my good friends died of cancer. And it was, it wasn't natural. It was, he was in an explosion, and it was an irradiated bomb, and it got in his mouth, and he lost his tongue and half his leg, so I consider him a casualty of war. It just took a long time for that bullet to get him…I miss him every day.”
Ware says it’s a reminder that the war’s impact doesn’t end when the battlefields grow quiet.
“And then it's not till you're afterwards and everything comes back, comes out, it's like I had 25 years of. Trauma in my mind that was compartmentalized as soon as that threat was gone in my life, it all came out.”
Today, Ware honors those memories as Director of the Crownsville Veterans Cemetery. He says the grounds hold more than names and dates — they speak through poetry.
“I've always been a service and now in this position, I have a service to keep the honor and integrity of those who have said yes, I will do this,I will stand in front of this for these people because. It is important to me.”
As another September 11th anniversary arrives, Ware says the events of that day — and the war that came before it — still shape the world we live in.
“We're never gonna be out of a war,it seems like we're always gonna be in some kind of conflict in the United States. And I think that's just our nature. Um, I wish it wasn't. Because those of us who have been to war know that it is. It's the worst piece of humanity you could ever think of. And the worst thing is that we do it to ourselves. And that's never gonna go away.”
Ware says he’s not the only one with invisible wounds from war who are still healing. He encourages his brothers and sisters to reach out for help — even to him — if they need someone to talk to. Veterans in crisis can call the Veterans Crisis Line by dialing 988. Help is available 24/7.