The five combat engineers from Fort Riley were riding in one of these: M113 Carrier Personnel Full Track.
The five combat engineers from Fort Riley were riding in one of these: M113 Carrier Personnel Full Track.
In an announcement Thursday about the deaths of five troops in Anbar province, the Marines did not offer details about the incident and did not specify the troops' branch of service. It said they were "serving with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force," the main body of Marines in Iraq.
On Friday, in its own announcement about the same incident, the Pentagon said the five were from the 1st Brigade of the Army's 1st Infantry Division and were killed when their armored personnel carrier was hit by a makeshift bomb in Habbaniyah, which is west of Fallujah. The 1st Brigade, based at Fort Riley, Kan., is operating under 1st Marine Expeditionary Force command.
Army Times article
March 17, 2004
Soldier dies as Bradley plunges into Tigris River
Associated Press
TIKRIT, Iraq — An Army Bradley fighting vehicle overturned Wednesday into the Tigris River in central Iraq, killing one 1st Infantry Division soldier and injuring two others, the military said.
The accident occurred shortly before midday near Al-Fatah, a village close to Beiji, 120 miles north of Baghdad, said Maj. Neal O’Brien, the division’s spokesman in the northern city of Tikrit.
O’Brien said the Bradley was skirting the Tigris River in a reconnaissance convoy with two other vehicles when the dirt road it was driving on gave way, causing the vehicle to roll on its side into the water.
It was unclear if the soldier drowned or suffered fatal injuries, O’Brien said.
The two injured soldiers were taken to a combat support hospital north of Tikrit. No details were available on their conditions.
The Army has not released the identities of the soldiers involved.