Expeditionary· Gulf War (Op DESERT SHIELD/STORM)
Faylakah Island Iraqi Surrender
Faylakah Island, off the coast of Kuwait City, was held by an Iraqi garrison that the Marines had targeted as part of the amphibious threat maintained throughout the war.
Rather than requiring an assault, the island's defenders were brought to surrender as Iraqi resistance across the theater collapsed. In a striking demonstration of the effect of coalition firepower and the enemy's broken morale, the garrison capitulated to Marine helicopters operating overhead, the defenders signaling their surrender and laying down their arms without a ground fight. Hundreds of Iraqi troops were taken prisoner. The bloodless capitulation of Faylakah was emblematic of the war's final phase, in which entire Iraqi units, demoralized by relentless bombardment and the rout of their army, gave up rather than fight. It also vindicated the long-maintained amphibious threat in the Gulf, which had tied down Iraqi forces and contributed to the enemy's collapse.
Record no. 731