"Why is this in the news?"
I work with the mother of the soldier driving the tank, she said, he didn't have a choice or a chance to take evasive action, he had to hit the van. He is very upset about it and could use some prayers. His name is Nathan.
It's amazing that we have someone here at FreeRepublic that can give us some more information on this.
He certainly did not have time to take evasive action. Tell him it's not his fault he hit the van. Stuff like that happens from time to time. Sorry it had to happen to him, but it's not his fault. It's the fault of the driver in the van.
They also could not stop the tank to check out the damage to the people they hit, as that would have set them up for an ambush. Someone or several someones with AKs could have opened up on the tank crew once they were out of the tank, and then there would have been a dead tank crew and the bad guys would have a fully armed tank (plus the tank crews' weapons).
Again, it was the fault of the driver of the van. Nothing the driver of the tank could have done different.
I have faith that Nathan's sgt and platoon commander will explain this all to him. He'll unerstand with time.
I pray for our folks over there every day (especially the ones I know in 3/2 SBCT). I'll add Nathan to my list.
Please pass my thoughts and prayers to Nathan's mom. Thanks.
Jonah