Over 30 years after a U.S.-led international military coalition expelled occupying Iraqi troops from Kuwait, planners have broken ground on the long-simmering plans for a Gulf War memorial.

SAN ANTONIO – It’s been exactly 30 years since the start of the first Gulf War. The war began after then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded the oil rich nation of Kuwait in August, 1990. Bush ordered Operation Desert Storm. David Stewart, a Gulf War veteran, was then 22-years-old and formed part of the U.S. Army’s 101st airborne division. Operation Desert Storm has since been the largest and deepest air assault in history.