Operation Desert Storm was the decisive 1991 military operation to defend Saudi Arabia and remove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army from Kuwait, following his aggressive, belligerent 1990 invasion of that small, oil rich neighboring nation. A six month buildup of a world coalition, a myriad of U.N. resolutions and and astounding air campaign, and 100 hour ground war resulted in a stunning Allied combat victory that the entire world was able to witness live on television. But soon after the victory celebrations faded, the parades had all ended, and the world began to return to some semblance of normal, many of the Veteran warriors of Desert Storm began to experience and suffer a barrage of similar, unexplained physical maladies and illnesses. Initially dismissed by government health experts as coincidental and unrelated, the numbers of affected Veterans soon became too numerous to ignore. Eventually, the collective symptoms became known as Gulf War Syndrome, and to this day, there is no general consensus as to it's cause, it's effects, or how it can be treated. Much like Agent Orange, during the Vietnam War, Gulf War Syndrome continues to plague thousands of Veterans, negatively impacting their health and their quality of life, with no conceivable end in sight. "Survivors After the Storm" is NOT a professional journal, nor is it written by a medical expert or military historian. It is essentially a "Grunt's" eye view, from ground level, by an Infantry Squad Leader who participated and witnessed many events and circumstances that may have been among some of the root causes of Gulf War Syndrome, from the earliest days of the deployment and buildup of Desert Shield, thru the Ground War Campaign deep into Iraq, the post war occupation, and the eventual redeployment home.