Memories of Lost Tank's Crew Follow Marines' 1st Battalion

USA TODAY ^ | Tue Apr 1, 6:24 AM ET | Elliot Blair Smith

[anymouse]

R.I.P. Marines.

[anymouse]

Marine ping.

[Terriergal]

I heard about this... very sad....!

[mad_as_he$$]

Semper Fi and salute......

[dinok]

Go Easy Bros

Semper Fi

(from an Army treadhead)

[rageaholic]

All because a tyrant and his henchmen will do anything and kill anyone to cling to their ill-gotten power. I hope Saddam suffered mightily before he died.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks anymouse.

[bribriagain]

brave soldier bump

[IronJack]

Let's just be sure not to lose anybody else.

God make it so.

[Radix]

the four Marines drowned

They drowned while lost in a sandstorm. I am so horrified. This incident needs to be looked into. I cannot believe how upset this makes me.

[The Shrew]

Semper Fi Marines!

[Tamzee]

So heart-wrenching :-(

[nonliberal]

They drowned while lost in a sandstorm.

A tragedy which could have been avoided had Bush not been screwing around with the UN for six months!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

How so? Was the bridge in tact then? Was the moon better then? (By the way, where was the night vison gizmo? That is what makes this story confusing. Tanks don't rush about without being able to see as described here, do they?)

[Radix]

To: Radix

They drowned while lost in a sandstorm.

A tragedy which could have been avoided had Bush not been screwing around with the UN for six months!

13 posted on 04/01/2003 10:12 PM EST by nonliberal (Taglines? We don't need no stinkin' taglines!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

What should we do?

Impeach?

Revolt?

Fold Space?

The world has changed and more after this.

It is time to move on!

None of us is perfect.

We are just right.

[IronJack]

Hits especially close to home for you, eh?

[nonliberal]

It is my understanding that there is a "sandstorm season" in the Middle East, just as there was a "monsoon season" in SE Asia. Six months ago, the sandstorm season had not yet arrived. We decided that international manners superceded the safety of US citizens and went to the UN to beg for permission to defend ourselves.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Thanks for the explanation. Having a Constitution that places the civilian authority over the military, such as a constitutional representative republic must have, can produce problems for the military. Unfortunately, that has often been the case. We saw it have disastrous results in Vietnam. It is especially bad when the political leaders are reading polls and listening to political advisors more than to military advisors or they are listening to military advisors who themselves have become politicians rather than warriors. Being more concerned with selfish motives for personal advantage than for the lives of our brave defenders and, over the long range good for our country, is what separates the politicians from true leaders. That is why character counts. Our most recent examples of such selfish politicains have been LBJ, Jimmy Carter, and of course Bill Clinton.

However, there are times when international political realities must be considered. That is the basic purpose of our State Department, to deal with those political considerations. When trying to accommodate the goals of other countries while accomplishing our own, sometimes leads to strange decisions and even stranger bedfellows. In the present situation, I think Bush and the entire administration pretty well knew what they were going to do all along but the significance of the international political changes and realignments that were likely to be brought about demanded that we go the extra mile to allow some others, France, Germany, Russia, China, et al., to reevaluated their positions. It also provided us with the opportunity to let the UN shoot intself in the foot as well as to let all nations "lay their cards on the table." This helped sharpen the kines for what needs to be done in the future.

I think Bush is less influenced by public opinion that any politician we have had in a long time. I also think it wise he went the extra mile diplomatically even if I would have preferred he tell our opponents to shove it. He will probably also be more lenient on France, Germany, Russia, and China than I prefer after it is all over. However, to blame particular battlefield outcomes on the delay is strictly conjecture without logical basis. The vagaries of battle are such that things like a wrong turn could, and do, happen all the time. It should also be remembered that while the negotiations in the UN were going on we were still going about implementing our battle plan. We had large numbers of troops, equipment, and supplies to move half way across the world. That takes time. This was accomplished in less time than Desert Storm, of course we sent only half as much, and had to be done regardless of diplomatic considerations. The results have been and will continue to be outstanding.

An ancillary benefit is that we will now have troops stationed in an area that will be a potential powder keg for years to come. Our actions and our presence will also have a tremendous positive effect on the surrounding countries.

All has worked so well that I wouldn't even take note of all the "what ifs" we can dream up.

[Copernicus]

I am unfamiliar with tank operations and don't understand this business about "losing tanks".

This is the second lost tank story I've read.

It seems The Gabriel and The Intimidator were also lost (and broken) for 11 days last week. While disabled they came close to immolation from friendly fire on at least two occasions and generally had to fend for themselves with dwindling supplies of food and fuel.

How does this work? When a fighter goes down over hostile territory, rescue crews are ready to scramble within minutes. The plane and pilot are equipped with distress homing beacons and other means of communication.

It seems tanks would be at least as important and valuable.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Don't you guys have rollcall periodically?

Best regards,

[The Shrew]

Hits especially close to home for you, eh?

Yup! That's my old unit! I'm feeling pretty old and useless playing keyboard cowboy instead of standing chin down in a turret!

May the Lord Bless and Keep them!

Regards,

TS