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Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Dunne, Gerald William, CAPT.
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Contact Info
Home Town Chicago, IL
Last Address Oakton, VA
Date of Passing Nov 01, 2015
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Captain GERALD W. DUNNE U.S. Navy (Ret.) died at home on November 1, 2015. He was born in Chicago, Illinois July 17, 1941, son of Robert and Adeline Dunne both also of Chicago. Jerry attended Mount Carmel High School in Chicago and the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. After graduation from the Naval Academy in 1964, his initial tours involved Vietnam operations aboard the USS Topeka, USS Collett, and USS Frank E. Evans.
In 1969 Dunne was aboard the USS Evans when it collided with HMAS Melbourne, an Australian air craft carrier, in the South China Sea. He lost 74 shipmates from the sunken bow section of the ship, and as the senior surviving officer, at age 27, Dunne assumed command. He later wrote that he "learned first hand of the courage and resourcefulness of our officers and sailors as we struggled to tend to our injured and save the after half of the ship." For his "skill and devotion to duty" in helping to save the lives of his shipmates, Dunne was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal in 1969. In 1971 heas oredere to Commander Cruiser Destroyer Group 6 as a Aide and Flag Secratary to the Commander. Dunne went back to sea for a staff tour, followed by a tour as the XO of USS Barbey which ended in 1976.
He then reported to Office of Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C. in Mid 1976 as Military Assistant to the Director for Net Assessment. In 1979, he reported to USS Davis as its commanding officer. Capt.
Dunne's last duty as commanding officer was CO of Naval Station Long Beach, watching over 47 ships and 17,000 sailors. Capt. Patricia A. Tracey replaced him as commander of the Long Beach Naval Station on Aug. 22, 1990. Capt. Gerald W. Dunne, went to Washington as executive director for the Defense Policy Board. Dunne retired as a Captain in 1992 with a Defense Superior Service and two Legion of Merit medals.
After retirement from the Navy, Dunne joined the Logistics Management Institute as a consultant and led numerous projects for the Navy, the office of the SECDEF, and the Homeland Defense Department. He received his MBA in 1995. Jerry was a member of the Navy League, the Frank E. Evans Association, and Army Navy Country Club.
Gulf War/Defense of Saudi Arabia /Operation Desert Shield
From Month/Year
August / 1990
To Month/Year
January / 1991
Description
In 1990, fellow Arab Gulf states refused to endorse Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's plan to cut production and raise the price of oil, leaving him frustrated and paranoid. Iraq had incurred a mountain of debt during its war with Iran that had lasted for most of the previous decade, and the Iraqi President felt that his Arab brothers were conspiring against him by refusing to raise oil prices. Therefore, after weeks of massing troops along the Iraq-Kuwait border and accusing Kuwait of various crimes, Hussein sent seven divisions of the Iraqi Army into Kuwait in the early morning hours of 2 August 1990. The invasion force of 120,000 troops and 2,000 tanks quickly overwhelmed Iraq's neighbor to the south, allowing Hussein to declare, in less than a week, that Kuwait was his nation's nineteenth province. The United Nations responded quickly, passing a series of resolutions that condemned the invasion, called for an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, imposed a financial and trade embargo on Iraq, and declared the annexation void.
Regarding Iraq's actions as a threat to a vital interest of the US, namely the oil production capability of the Persian Gulf region, President George Bush ordered warplanes and ground forces to Saudi Arabia after obtaining King Fahd's approval. Iraqi troops had begun to mass along the Saudi border, breaching it at some points, and indicating the possibility that Hussein's forces would continue south into Saudi Arabia's oil fields. Operation DESERT SHIELD, the US military deployment to first defend Saudi Arabia grew rapidly to become the largest American deployment since the Southeast Asia Conflict. The Gulf region was within US Central Command's (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. Eventually, 30 nations joined the military coalition arrayed against Iraq, with a further 18 countries supplying economic, humanitarian, or other type of assistance.
Carriers in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea responded, US Air Force interceptors deployed from bases in the United States, and airlift transports carried US Army airborne troopers to Saudi Arabia. Navy prepositioning ships rushed equipment and supplies for an entire marine brigade from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to the gulf. During the next six months the United States and its allies built up a powerful force in the Arabian peninsula. The navy also began maritime intercept operations in support of a US-led blockade and United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
Coalition forces, specifically XVIII Airborne Corps and VII Corps, used deception cells to create the impression that they were going to attack near the Kuwaiti boot heel, as opposed to the "left hook" strategy actually implemented. XVIII Airborne Corps set up "Forward Operating Base Weasel" near the boot heel, consisting of a phony network of camps manned by several dozen soldiers. Using portable radio equipment, cued by computers, phony radio messages were passed between fictitious headquarters. In addition, smoke generators and loudspeakers playing tape-recorded tank and truck noises were used, as were inflatable Humvees and helicopters.
On 17 January 1991, when it became clear that Saddam would not withdraw, Desert Shield became Desert Storm.