In late February 1991, the desert along the Iraq–Kuwait border was a wholly unremarkable and barren place. There were no towns to name the coming battle; just wind, dust, and a flat horizon marred only by burning oil wells and the silhouettes of armored vehicles.  The Battle of 73 Easting Started as a Map Line To make sense of that emptiness, coalition planners drew a grid across the map. One of those north–south lines, labeled "73 Easting," would become shorthand for the last great tank...

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