DAYTON — It was a top-secret mission that kicked off the country’s first strikes in Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. Now, more than 35 years later, members of seven B-52 crews that flew that mission are preparing to reunite this summer at the CenterPoint Energy Dayton Air Show.
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Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Trey Morriss was part of that mission aboard one of seven B-52 Bombers.
A 33-hour planned journey from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to Iraq, part of a coordinated attack, required them to fire missiles at an exact time despite several refuels and an encounter with a Soviet Naval Armada.
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“That was the pressure in the - of us to ensure that we make that window, because the overall air campaign had us in this very narrow window to strike very specific targets deep into Iraq that no other capability could reach other than what we had,” Morriss said.
Now, Morriss’s account of the mission and the crew members involved will soon be coming to the Dayton Air Show.
Their story will be recounted in a book that will be released next month, titled “Doom 34: A Firsthand Account of the Top-Secret Mission that Launched Operation Desert Storm.” Their story is not too different from that of the Doolittle Rangers of 1942, who unleashed an air attack on Japan after Pearl Harbor.
“We love (that) we’re coming to the museum and the community support,” he added. “And so we’re looking forward to tell that story, and tell a little bit (of) the Doolittle story, but tell our story, and again, upon their shoulders and helping out with the heritage of long, bummer, long race drive.”
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