Small-town Marine veteran refuses to back down in 16-year fight for America's forgotten heroes — and wins
A Marine veteran from a small North Carolina town spent 16 years fighting to build a national memorial honoring the Americans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm — overcoming congressional setbacks, years of bureaucratic hurdles and a lengthy battle over its location, all while refusing to use taxpayer money to get it done.
"I'm just an average everyday American," Scott Stump told Fox News Digital. "I just felt like something had to be done to correct what I felt was a historical oversight."
What began as one veteran's determination to ensure the sacrifices of the 1990-1991 Gulf War generation were not forgotten became a 16-year undertaking that culminated in the Oct. 24, 2026, opening of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial on the National Mall.
Stump, who spearheaded the effort with a team of veteran volunteers, said he insisted from the beginning that the project be built without U.S. taxpayer funding, even as it required years of congressional action, federal approvals and financial support from donors.
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"I made the decision right off the bat that [I] was not interested in encumbering the taxpayer at all," Stump said. "This should be 100% privately funded. Just felt like it was the right thing to do."
Stump said the idea first came to him in November 2010, as the country approached the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military campaign that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
He had attended veterans events where service members from other conflicts were recognized, but those who fought in Desert Shield and Desert Storm were overlooked.
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"They skipped right over it, and they act like it never happened," Stump recalled.
Living in Waynesville, North Carolina, Stump had no elaborate political operation or established Washington network to carry out his vision. Instead, he assembled a team of fellow veterans who shared his belief that the conflict deserved a permanent place in the nation's history, he said.
Stump worked with then-Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., to secure the legislation necessary to authorize the memorial.
"It was kind of a ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’" Stump said, referring to the classic film about an ordinary American navigating Washington politics.
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The legislative effort alone took roughly three and a half to four years, and Stump said he was forced to start over after legislation introduced late in one congressional session failed to advance.
He reintroduced the effort in 2013, testified before Congress in February 2014 and watched the House approve the measure in a unanimous 370-0 vote on May 28, 2014.
Stump said the Senate effort encountered additional legislative complications that threatened to derail the memorial authorization before the congressional session ended. He fought to clear the obstacle, knowing another failure could mean starting the legislative process from scratch for a third time.
The authorization ultimately passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015, which President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2014.
Next came the challenge of securing a location worthy of the service members the memorial would honor. Stump initially believed the site-selection process would take approximately 18 months. Instead, it stretched to 39 months, he recounted.
He said much of that time was spent educating officials and members of federal commissions about the significance of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Some questioned whether the conflict had truly ended, he said. Others questioned whether enough Americans had died to justify a prominent national memorial.
"’There weren't enough people who died to have a memorial for this,’" Stump recalled being told during the approval process.
After initially receiving approval for a different location, Stump and his team continued pushing for their preferred site near 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue.
They secured approval on June 21, 2018, in an "absolute epic battle," Stump said.
"We are not interested in just something visible," Stump said, recalling the argument he made to commissioners. "But we wanted something that was visitable."
He wanted visitors to do more than pass a monument on their way to another destination. He wanted them to walk through the memorial, experience its design and leave inspired to learn about a war that had faded from the memories of many Americans.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, prompting President George H.W. Bush to launch Operation Desert Shield and build an international coalition. After months of military buildup, Operation Desert Storm began Jan. 17, 1991, with weeks of airstrikes before a ground offensive launched Feb. 24 drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait in approximately 100 hours.
"You know, you have 30 some odd countries, five continents, different races, religions, creeds," Stump said. "It's a wonderful story."
Outside of the monument this month, DJ of Wisconsin told Fox News Digital his mother served in the Air Force as a nurse in the early '90s. She was never deployed overseas, but during her time, she worked with many veterans from Desert Storm.
"[The memorial] reminded me of her and her service, and just the thanks that I have both for her and for all Americans who sign a blank check for the country that can be paid for up to and including their lives. So, I'm just very thankful, and this is a good, good, humble reminder of that sacrifice," said DJ.
Desert Storm veteran Steve from Indiana told Fox News Digital he was "impressed" that the memorial was so close to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial.
"In some ways, Desert Storm is somewhat forgotten. It was a relatively small war, but a very successful one, and I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from that war," said Steve.
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The Department of the Interior and National Park Service formally welcomed the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in October, honoring the Americans who served.
"The Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial honors the courage of the Americans who answered our nation’s call, the sacrifice of those who never returned home and the families who supported them," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
Stump said he intentionally structured the organization behind the memorial as an association rather than a traditional foundation, allowing the project to maintain a singular focus on completing the monument rather than supporting a permanent payroll or other long-term institutional expenses. He added he did not want future operating costs to force compromises in the design.
"Our job, and I believe that we've achieved it through a wonderful design, a wonderful design team that worked extremely hard to come up with what we have, is to make an emotional connection with the visitor," Stump said.
He pointed to the Korean War Veterans Memorial as an example of how a monument can move visitors even when they know little about the conflict it commemorates.
Young people, he said, often encounter the memorial's statues of soldiers wearing ponchos and leave wanting to understand the war behind those figures.
That is the experience he hopes the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial will create for generations to come.