Horseplay killed soldier

Buffalo News ^ | 3-13 | GENE WARNER

[EggsAckley]

one of his sisters, Tijuana

Tijuana ?

[Prodigal Son]

Silly thing to have done.

[Bob]

Your tag-line could easily be misinterpreted. Most, but not everybody, knows that it's a JF'nKerry quote and that it was made in reference to oil.

[SpyGuy]

This new "politically corrected" and "pussified" military is going to get more soldiers killed and put our nation's security at risk.

Army Col. John A. Simpson Jr., garrison commander at Fort Riley, Kan., suggest[ed] one possible theory, questioning whether the soldiers had lighted the bundles as a way to break the monotony amid the stress of wartime.

Give me a break! Next, we're going to have to assign grief counselors and stress management therepists to each combat unit. As if quarterly "sensitivity training" wasn't enough.

"We found that it was a tragic accident, but it was due to negligence," Simpson told Macklin. "(His fellow soldiers) were well-trained. They were a good unit. Why they did that, I don't know, ma'am."

This was no accident; negligence had nothing to do with it. This was a mishap caused by the improper acts of undiciplined soldiers. Obviously, they were not well-trained and not a good unit. If they were, these men would not be dead.

[fourdeuce82d]

three bundles of unexploded fuses

I'm familiar with artillery/mortar fuses but I'm not familiar with any type that could be bundled and "lit"- any EOD types want to chime in?

[SpyGuy]

"We lost a great American," Simpson said. "We lost a great soldier."

Uhhh... he was a great soldier based on what criteria? None is mentioned (unless dying automatically makes one great). From the article, it would appear that Evans was with the two guys that set the fire and caused the explosion. If so, then at best he did not stop them, and at worst, he was complicit in their actions.

[ambrose]

if he managed to survive the blast, he could have been the next Max Cleland. Injured "war hero"..

[EggsAckley]

Your tag-line could easily be misinterpreted. Most, but not everybody, knows that it's a JF'nKerry quote and that it was made in reference to oil.

Um................misinterpreted? Do I care?

[boomop1]

My son is over there from Ft. Riley and leadership is sorely lacking.

[kenth]

"We lost a great American," Simpson said. "We lost a great soldier."

I think Simpson was talking to the young man's mother. I agree with you regarding his language that it was just an accident. They lit them on purpose.

[SpyGuy]

Could she ever forgive them?

Typical crap question from a Liberal reporter.

Speaking of which, I remember when this explosion was first reported. The Leftist news organizations could barely mask their glee as they danced around the dead and chalked up more losses to the US military operation in Iraq. "When are we going to stop bringing our boys home in body bags," they collectively questioned. Now the truth is out that this had nothing to do with the combat.

[Bob]

Whatever.

[solo gringo]

Horse play is an accident waiting to happen.I had 3,000 plus people working for me.Had one or two people hurt working but had about 50 hurt in horse play.

[LasVegasMac]

Um................misinterpreted? Do I care?

I can see we need to get you scheduled for some, "I really do f*****'n care!" training.

Stay tuna'd, your notice is in the mail.

LVM

[csvset]

One soldier picked up three bundles of unexploded fuses, something that they're explicitly trained not to do, Simpson said. Then one soldier suggested that the other light it.

One of the two soldiers lighted the bundle. It went out, and one of them lighted it again.

What the hell were they thinking?

[Mr. K]

"...One of the two soldiers lighted the bundle..."

Where are the editors nowadays...? One of the soldiers lit the bundle

[Wombat101]

Sounds like good, old fashioned TNT was being stored in that "munitions building". Which requires the old timer fuses (the slow-burning fuse we're all familiar with from cartoons or any decent Western). That's a guess.

Plastique and more modern explosives typically require an electrical charge to enable detonation, however, there are explosives out there that have a "multi-ignition" capabilty (stick a fuse in it, or use another compound like fulminate of mercury or cordite as a "first-stage" explosive, etc).

It's also possible that these guys were dealing with VERY OLD artillery fuses (say circa-WWII. The Soviets were famous for NOT throwing obsolete weaponry away, and they supplied just about everyone with the stuff).

However, I was a Navy ordinance man, and not all that familiar with artillery pieces or engineering explosives, so perhaps I'm wrong.

[LasVegasMac]

This was no accident; negligence had nothing to do with it. This was a mishap caused by the improper acts of undiciplined soldiers.

Beg to differ, SG. You said it all in your very next sentence.

I'm not trying to be a butt here, BUT the very definition of "negligence" happens to be.......

1 a : the quality or state of being negligent b : failure to exercise the care that a prudent person usually exercises

What would you call lighting off fuses in close proximity to other munitions?

Prudent?

Discipline - or lack of - certainly came into play here, but what they did was just plain stupid. What, they did not know any better? Discipline does not make one smart. You have to have common sense to start with. Something that was lacking here.

LVM

[theDentist]

"One of two soldiers entering a building full of munitions lighted some fuse bundles..."

Lighted? Lighted? The word is lit!

I know it's a measly gripe, but this irritates me. Like when they use "pleaded guilty" instead of "pled guilty". Grrrrr!