Marines find bodies of four American soldiers

The New York Times via The Houston Chronicle ^ | March 29, 2003, 12:21AM | Unattributed

[SlickWillard]

 
March 29, 2003, 12:21AM

Marines find bodies of four American soldiers

New York Times

WITH V CORPS HEADQUARTERS NEAR THE KUWAIT BORDER -- The bodies of four American soldiers were found by Marines on Friday in a shallow grave in the battle-worn town of Nasiriyah, near the Euphrates River.

U.S. Military officials said they believe the four were executed by Iraqi paramilitary forces after being seized in an ambush on Sunday.

Military officials declined to speculate as to whether the four were among those who were shown alive by the Arab television network last weekend. The military had heard reports that the soldiers were executed after they were shown on the Arab network, but there was no confirmation.

On Friday, a Marine unit found the four bodies in a freshly dug grave near a house in the northeast corner of the town of al-Jazeera. An Army official said the four bodies were clothed in U.S. military uniforms.

Today, the military were flying in a forensic team, military investigators and a member of the V Corps Staff Judge Advocate's office to the site. Officers said that the military was tentatively treating the deaths as a war crime.

The soldiers seized in the ambush have been listed as missing in action. The 507th Maintenance Co. is attached to the 3rd Infantry Division.

Officers of V Corps said the names of the dead would be released after their families were notified.

The ambush occurred in Nasiriyah, in southeastern Iraq.

According to Army officers, soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Unit were traveling on Highway 1, a main north-south artery, in darkness in a convoy of six vehicles. The unit was en route to supply an antiaircraft battery.

The convoy made a wrong turn, mistakenly leaving Highway 1. Officials said they believed that as the Americans realized their mistake, they turned around and quickly encountered two Iraqi T-55 tanks and an advancing Iraqi military unit. The soldiers came under rocket and small-arms fire.

In the fight that followed, the first of the two cars, a Humvee, the standard Army vehicle and a tool truck, were separated from the other four. An Army captain in the Humvee -- the senior officer -- drove the vehicle carrying wounded soldiers through the gunfire. According to one account, the officer drove nearly four miles before being forced to stop because his tires had been crippled by gunshots.

The officer sought to change the tires of the Humvee, when an American Marine unit on patrol saw him and the soldiers in his vehicle, officers said. The Marines called in a helicopter, which evacuated the officer and his wounded soldiers. Some were seriously wounded, one of them shot in the jaw.

The Marines resumed their patrol in search of the Fedayeen, the paramilitary force. Within minutes, they came upon two American vehicles, damaged by bullets. Two other vehicles were burning. No Americans were in sight.

Hours later, grim photos of American soldiers were shown on the Arab network al-Jazeera. Some appeared to have been executed, with bullet wounds to the head. The uniforms of others were stained with blood.

Within 24 hours, the Army was hearing reports that some of the soldiers had been executed.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Again: what about the uniforms makes them 'distinctive as for females?"

The would probably be of different cuts.

[CheneyChick]

I hear ya. Give one warning (so they can take some nice digital images and/or video of their favorite mosques, historical buildings and museums to put in their scrapbooks for their grandchildren to some day see) and then do the mushroom.

[wardaddy]

Amen...murder is right.

Execute?....I pray that's what we do to them when apprehended if they are still alive.

After a fair hearing of course....all five minutes of it.

Maybe let the Kurds or Shia deal with them.


We are dealing with desperate savages here.

Your thoughts on dealing with Fedayeen etc. irregulars?

I'm just angrily musing here. We have a mostly hostile press just waiting for a "Breaker Morant" incident.

[Republicanus_Tyrannus]

Y'know, women in combat would only work if we went to war against decent people, like the Brits or some other civilized & humane country.

But as long as the rest of the planet is filled with so many primitive tribal gangster-led "nations", we really have to expect nothing more than barbarism from any of our expected enemies.

So I agree with you.

[wardaddy]

That is painful to see.

[dware]

Sitting here reading this thread while that song, "Love me when I'm Gone" (can't think of the band, but they dedicated the song to the troops) plays in the background - almost overwhelming.

Lyrics:

Hold me when I'm here
Right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared
Love me when I'm gone

I'm trying really hard here to choke back the tears. God bless these wonderful soldiers and their families.

[ValerieUSA]

On Friday, a Marine unit found the four bodies in a freshly dug grave near a house in the northeast corner of the town of al-Jazeera.

Al Jazeera is a town, too?

[Semper Paratus]

Y'know, women in combat would only work if we went to war against decent people

From bitter experience Isreal knows their enemy and forbids woman near the front lines.

[Joe 6-pack]

"...Pfc. Lori Piestewa, who has been missing in Iraq since last weekend. The 23-year-old Hopi is the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, the granddaughter of a World War II veteran and a source of pride for Tuba City..."

Ashes to Dust
- J.D. Challenger

[Brian Allen]

<< The world no longer fears America and our enemies are without feelings or civility. >>

Count upon the world having reassessed its hesperophobic contempt before this War on Barbarisn -- this 1979 Jimmah-Carter started World War Four -- has run its course!

After twelve years without one worthy of the either the name and/or the responsibility Our Nation has a Leader who understands Good and Evil -- and that forty years of liberal treachery by the criminal likes of the mobbed-up Kennedy, the lying looting, thieving drunkard, Lyndon Johnson, and the obscene traitors Carter and Blythe-Cli'ton -- has, by permitting the world to forget our ruthlessness, made the world a dangerous place for Americans.

By making the rest of the world respect and/or fear US -- and not caring whether they even like US -- we will soon be safe again.

[ValerieUSA]

Women in combat is a practice of third world countries - America needs to do better because we are better. Get the U.S. women outta there!

[buffyt]

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS. GOD PROTECT OUR MISSING IN ACTION. GOD TAKE HOME OUR FALLEN HEROES, PLEASE TAKE THEM SAFELY HOME. Amen

[buffyt]

I have two sons and a daugher, ages 18 1/2 - 22 1/2 and I value the lives of my sons no less than the life of my daughter. I would like to see no females in combat, but if they qualify, and they are there, I support them!

[EternalVigilance]

The blonde is not 'more important' than these other two young women.

She was the only one I knew about until last night that was with the group taken, but had not been acknowledged as being taken. That made her a special concern to me. Then I found out about the girl from Arizona.

Usually, you would think that the POW they had revealed to the cameras would be safer, because the enemy would not want to kill them after the world knew they had them. But it would seem that this particular regime cares little about world opinion or any human decency whatsoever.

So, at this point, I would have to say that all three of these women, and all the male POWs, are equally at risk, if they are even still alive.

[EternalVigilance]

Amen, buffyt.

[OldCorps]

How cowardly to murder captive POWs. They have ensured their own destruction. Be assured, our soldiers will not allow themselves to be captured in the future.

And as for our frontline infantry and other combat arms soldiers: this is personal now. Before we were just doing our jobs. Now we are determined to kill those who murder defenseless POWs.

May God have mercy on our soldiers in harm's way.

[mware]

Army Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J.

Please keep the family of Sgt Riley especially in your prayers. His sister died yesterday from a rare brain disease.

[Anticommie]

Take no prisoners. Kill them all until they stand down. It's the only way. Kill them without mercy. That's all.

This is the only way to win this war and "war on terror".

[EternalVigilance]

Army Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J.

Please keep the family of Sgt Riley especially in your prayers. His sister died yesterday from a rare brain disease.

I will, and I'm sure other FReepers will too.

[Rainmist]

Would any of you military vets say that this enemy is as bad/or worse than the Vietnamese were ? Just curious.