video transcript

Four-star General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. has died at the age of 78 in his Florida home. The decorated U.S. Army general fought in the Vietnam War and led hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied troops to victory in the 1991 Gulf War. His plan to outflank Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces in Kuwait ended that war in only 100 hours and is considered a great military accomplishment. After retiring he served as a military analyst and acted as a spokesman against prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1993. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENERAL NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF, SAYING: "… No words can ever capture the emotions that go through a person's heart when he stands for the last time and hears the national anthem and salutes the American flag representing the county that he has gladly, proudly, served for the last 35 years." Schwarzkopf did not always agree with military decisions, saying in 2003 before the U.S. invasion of Iraq that he was unsure whether there was sufficient evidence of nuclear weapons. The cause of his death Thursday was not immediately known.