Posted on 03/27/2025 12:35:07 PM PDT by McGruff
Rescuers in Lithuania were digging in a peat bog Thursday as they tried to recover the submerged vehicle of four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a training exercise earlier this week.
The M88 Hercules armored vehicle was found more than 16 feet under water Wednesday, a day after the soldiers went missing while training with Lithuanian armed forces and law enforcement.
The U.S. Army said in a statement Thursday that the “search and recovery” for the soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, was ongoing.
The recovery effort, which have been underway for the last 48 hours, has required specialized equipment to pump water and mud from the site and stabilize the soft ground of the surrounding area, which will allow it to support the heavy equipment needed to recover the vehicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Google Maps can be wrong.
Thats where they most likely will be found.
I know where a D7 cat is in a bog. Its only 87 feet down.
Did not get the memo.
Anybody from the upper midwest can tell you all about those bogs.
I’ve been on them where you walk and it looks like waves on a lake several feet away from you.
There is cranberry bushes, peat moss, and later stages, black spruce grow on them.
MN has to be the champion state for them.
Cut many a cord of black spruce off from them.
doesn’t appear to be amphibious.
We have them near us, ever seen one on fire? Unbelievably dangerous.
“I know where a D7 cat is in a bog. Its only 87 feet down.”
I was digging out a pond outside of Nashville on a D2 one fine morning when I noticed I had no traction. The pond had been dry for years but I guess not dry enough. Soon i noticed I was sinking and blowing viscous blue clay out the back of the tracks. I shut down and got off only to see the dozer sink to the cab. We called one of the big wreckers to pull me out and he thought it was so funny he did it for free. Life lesson.
What a horrible way to die. RIP brave men.
Probably thought they were driving onto dry land when they set out onto the bog.
It’s a bitch when the recovery vehicle gets sunk in the mud.
What a suck way to die
Yes, and what a suck age to die at.
How does that work when one deploys to another country for an exercise ?
No locals embedded ? No Lithuanians there to say “watch out for those peat bogs “ ?
Without embedded locals what’s the reason for having the exercises ?
Military training is inherently dangerous, heavy equipment, low or no light, unfamiliar terrain. The miracle is that things like this do not happen more often.
It takes rigorous attention to detail and constant awareness of your situation to keep safe. I suspect this was a wrong turn during a night movement, then disaster as seemingly firm ground gave way suddenly.
From Google Maps, it all looks like mid-density conifer forest with a number of clear-cut lanes, probably for utility easements, railroads and the like. The proving ground looks like cleared forest. Did not see even a few retention ponds or small lakes. Which again, exposes Google Maps’ weakness. Sad story.
“Its only 87 feet down.”
Whoa. As you know, amazing finds have been made in bogs. Now I’m thinking about all the undiscovered treasures of various kinds littering them.
The pic you provided is an M88A1. The Hercules is an A2 weighing 140,000 lbs. It is distinguishable as it has M1 style armor along the upper tracks along with a square type boom.
No offense. Just wanted to update the readers of the difference.
Very cogent and on point comment, thanks.
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