Combat· Gulf War (Op DESERT SHIELD/STORM)
Battle of al-Khafji
The Battle of al-Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War, fought when Iraqi forces launched a surprise offensive across the border and seized the abandoned Saudi coastal town of Khafji.
The attack was meant to draw the coalition into a premature and costly fight, but it was met and defeated. Marines played a key role in the battle, with reconnaissance teams trapped inside the occupied town calling in fire and air strikes on the Iraqi forces, while Saudi and Qatari troops, supported by Marine artillery and coalition air power, retook the town. The fighting cost the Marines their first significant ground losses of the war, several killed when light armored vehicles were struck, most painfully in friendly-fire incidents amid the confused night battle. Al-Khafji ended in a decisive coalition victory that exposed the brittleness of Iraqi offensive capability and the dominance of coalition firepower.
Record no. 727