Plaque Honors County’s Participation in Desert Storm

Orange County’s tribute to participants of Operation Desert Storm was unveiled Thursday in an hourlong ceremony that also honored 33 county employees who were activated as reservists during the Persian Gulf War.

“This is a symbol of you and your efforts,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton, gesturing to 16 of the employees who attended the ceremony outside the county’s Hall of Administration.

The 2-by-3-foot bronze plaque, affixed to a triangular section of concrete, features a relief of Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, surrounded by four other service members. The five faces are bracketed by a flowing yellow ribbon and appear perched atop half a dozen flaming oil wells.

Bronze seals of five military services--Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard--are also inset in the concrete near the plaque. On the opposite side of the monument is a sand-blasted American flag.

The plaque is several feet away from others honoring Orange County participation in previous military conflicts.

Newport Beach sculptor Jon Tyree said after the noontime ceremony, which attracted a crowd of about 300, that he chose the Desert Storm commander because “he’s the symbol of our effort.”

Tyree said the relief took him about 90 hours to complete and that the four anonymous service members, including one woman, represent the various races and ethnic groups of those who served.

The $11,300 cost of the monument was raised by the President’s Council of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, Orange County chapter, according to Stanton’s office.

Marine Corps Col. Donald Beaufait, the keynote speaker, said that while some had described Operation Desert Storm as a “video game war” or high-tech war, “war is war and this was a very real war.”

A combat aviator with more than 100 missions in Vietnam, Beaufait is the commanding officer of Marine Air Group 11 at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. He flew 50 combat missions in Desert Storm from a base in Bahrain. The Marine aviators who served under him, Beaufait said, “did their job well, did it bravely,” demonstrating “the same courage, dedication shown by others in previous wars.”

Beaufait recognized the many reservists who, he said, “served with great distinction and courage.”

The support of civilians at home, he said, including millions of pieces of mail, made the military effort “more bearable.”

Other county supervisors attending the ceremony were Thomas F. Riley, Gaddi H. Vasquez and Don R. Roth. Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder had another engagement, a spokeswoman said.