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First Casualty Colonel H. Avery Chenoweth, USMCR Acquisition Number: 2012.1005.149 Medium: Oil on Canvas A Navy corpsman treats a Marine assigned to 1st Marine Division at the Command Post aid station during Desert Storm in early 1991. This war was in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait the year before. In August 1990, a coalition of nations led by the U.S. arrived in the Persian Gulf to protect Saudi Arabia and other nearby countries from Saddam Hussein, an operation called Desert Shield. The Marine Corps’ first offensive action took place on the second day of Desert Storm, 17 January. Six weeks later, the enemy had been defeated. During combat, 24 Marines were killed and 92 wounded; there were another 24 non-combat deaths and 46 injuries. Wherever Marines operate, Navy medical personnel are there with them—behind the scenes or in the midst of a combat operation.