Stacy Jalowitz: My Experience in the Gulf War, 1990-1992

Summary Information

Title: Stacy Jalowitz: My Experience in the Gulf War

Inclusive Dates: 1990-1992

Creator: Jalowitz, Stacy

Call Number: Eau Claire Mss CI; PH Eau Claire Mss CI; Tape 1428A

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box), 2 tape recordings (located at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, WI), and 20 photographs

Repository: Housed at the Area Research Center, William D. McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division

Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr.

Abstract: Stacy Jalowitz, a UWEC freshman, recounts her experiences as a woman who participated in the Persian Gulf War, where she served in the 13th Evacuation Hospital with the Army National Guard during the Desert Storm operation in 1991. Included is her sixteen-page memoir in which she describes her experiences while stationed in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and in the desert, twenty miles south of the Iraq border. An oral interview on two audiocassette tapes, twenty photographs, and correspondence are also included.

Note: There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

Search Terms 

Subject Terms 

• Persian Gulf War, 1991—Veterans—Wisconsin
• Persian Gulf War, 1991—Women

Biography/History

On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, invaded the small country of Kuwait, located on the Persian Gulf. The United States began sending troops to Saudi Arabia in an operation called Desert Shield. On Wednesday, January 16, 1991 at about 6:00 P.M. EST, after an ultimatum by President George Bush for Iraq to pull out of Kuwait, the United States and an international military force launched an air war against Iraq which was then named Desert Storm. Stacy Lynn Jalowitz-Welter, the youngest of three girls, was born to Jim and Sandy Jalowitz on July 25, 1971 in Hayward, Wisconsin. She graduated from Hayward High School in 1989. She participated in various sports while in high school--volleyball, basketball, softball, and a hockey cheerleader. Both her sisters Kim (Thalacker) and Sue (Drabek) were married when operation Desert Shield began. On December 28, 1988, Stacy enlisted in the Army National Guard, joining her sister Sue who had joined the National Guard in 1986. From July 1989 until March 1990, Stacy was in Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and then in Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Sam, Houston, Texas. Stacy enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the fall of 1990. While attending Laurel Johnson's freshman English 110 class, Stacy received a message to call her unit. She was told that her unit was on alert. The date was November 15, 1990. Two days later, Stacy received a call that her unit was activated. Stacy was a Pharmacy Technician in the l3th Evacuation Hospital (EVAC). She reported to the Armory in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on November 21 and flew to Fort Bullis, Texas on December 5, 1990 for training. On January 11, 1991 Stacy and her unit, including her sister Sue, flew to Saudi Arabia, landing there two days later after layovers in New York and Germany. Initially, Stacy and Sue lived in the apartment complex of the U.S. Air Base in Dhahran, where she could see the Persian Gulf from her apartment on the seventh floor. From there, the unit took Chinook helicopters and then transferred to buses and trucks to get to their hospital site in the desert, twenty miles south of the Iraq border, where they remained for the following three months. On April 5, Stacy and other soldiers drove to Kuwait City for a day trip. On April 26, 1991, Stacy and her unit flew home after a memorable three and a half months in Saudi Arabia, where she experienced sand storms, observing wild camel in the desert, and the terrors of war, including SCUD missile alerts at all hours, the interception of SCUDs by patriot missiles, tending to casualties, and guarding prisoners-of-war. Upon her return home, Stacy returned to UWEC and completed her education, receiving a BA in Accounting and Business Administration in May 1995. While a student at UWEC, Stacy participated in the Student Accounting Society and the Veterans Club. On August 19, 1995 Stacy married John Welter. Stacy presently works as a Client Service Analyst for Donnelly Marketing in Marshfield, Wisconsin.

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes a sixteen-page memoir in which Stacy relates her experiences during the Persian Gulf War, twenty photographs related to the war, an oral history interview on two audio tapes and a transcription of the audio tapes, and correspondence. The sixteen-page memoir is based on writings in a journal that Stacy kept while stationed in the Persian Gulf. Her memoir was a research paper that she wrote to fill a requirement for her English 110 class at UWEC. The twenty 3 × 5 color photographs are various scenes from Fort McCoy, Wisconsin and Saudi Arabia in which soldiers are seen participating in activities such as volleyball and softball. Also captured are images of interior facilities and exterior views. An inventory list accompanies the photographs. Also included in the collection are three letters from Stacy to her parents, dated January 16, 1991 to March 16, 1991. An oral history, dated September 17, 1992, is on two audiocassette tapes, each approximately 1 1/2 hours in length. University Archivist Larry Lynch interviews Stacy and clarifies, among other things, Stacy's involvement in the National Guard and in the Persian Gulf War. Also included in the collection is a transcription of the interview.

Administrative/Restriction Information Use Restrictions 

Stacy Jalowitz retains copyright to the memoir, photographs, and correspondence.

Acquisition Information 

Presented by Stacy Jalowitz, Eau Claire, Wis., 1992. Accession Number: M2006-043

Processing Information 

Processed by the Eau Claire Area Research Center.