Post date: Dec 28, 2012 12:36:30 PM
Schwarzkopf led 100-hour ground war that routed the Iraqi army in 1991, then retired as a four-star general after 34 years in the army.
TAMPA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 9, 1991) (REUTERS) - Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the hard-charging U.S. Army general whose forces smashed the Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War, has died at the age of 78, a U.S. official said on Thursday (December 27).
The highly decorated four-star general died at 2:22 p.m. EST (1922 GMT) at his home in Tampa, Florida, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cause of death was not immediately known.Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran known as Stormin' Norman, commanded more than 540,000 U.S. troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Hussein's army from Kuwait in 1991, capping his 34-year military career.
"I would just say that I think that we have made a major step forward in the cause of peace and I have every expectation that if we continue the open and frank and cooperative dialogue that we have had today and I would say very candidly that the Iraqis came to discuss and to cooperate with a positive attitude," said Schwarkopf after reaching an agreement in Iraq in 1991.
Some experts hailed Schwarzkopf's plan to trick and outflank Hussein's forces with a sweeping armoured movement as one of the great accomplishments in military history. The manoeuvre ended the ground war in only 100 hours.
Schwarzkopf was a familiar sight on international television during the war, clad in camouflage fatigues and a cap. He conducted fast-paced briefings and toured the lines with a purposeful stride and a physical presence of the sort that clears barrooms.
Little known before Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Kuwait, Schwarzkopf made a splash with quotable comments.
Schwarzkopf returned from the war as a hero and there was talk of him running for public office. Instead he wrote an autobiography titled "It Doesn't Take a Hero" and served as a military analyst.
He also acted as a spokesman for the fight against prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1993.
Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 22, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of ColonelH. Norman Schwarzkopf Sr., the head of the New Jersey State Police. At the time, the older Schwarzkopf was leading the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son, one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century.
The younger Schwarzkopf graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,New York, in 1956. He also earned a masters degree in guided-missile engineering from the University of Southern California and later taught engineering at West Point.