W. Nathaniel Howell, the Charlottesville resident and U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait whose defiance of Saddam Husseinâs order to close the embassy after Iraqâs 1990 invasion led to the first Gulf War, was laid to rest in Albemarle County on Wednesday. Howell, 81, died on Dec. 17. He grew up in Portsmouth, received a doctorate in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia in 1965 and joined the U.S. Foreign Service. He served in several locations, including Washington, D.C., Belgium, Egypt, Beirut and Algiers prior to being named ambassador to Kuwait by President Ronald Reagan. Howell and his wife Margie served in foreign service posts through three conflicts, including the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel in 1967 and the Lebanese civil war in 1975.