One Marine Killed, Several Wounded in Iraq
Fox News is reporting that one Marine has been killed and several others injured by indirect fire in Iraq. They were reportedly injured by an ISIS rocket that landed near their position in Makhmur, a town approximately 75 miles southeast of Mosul.
A US defense official termed the attack “a lucky strike by ISIS”. Names of the individual killed, those injured, and the exact number injured have not yet been released by DoD. The casualty total (KIA + WIA) is believed to be 5 or less.
The profession of arms is not without risk, whether in peace or war. But as I’ve said elsewhere, no place in a bona fide combat zone is truly safe. IDF doesn’t care where you are, what your MOS/specialty might be, or what you’re doing. It’s a true equal opportunity threat.
May God comfort the family, friends, and professional colleagues of the departed, and may He grant speedy and complete healing to those injured.
Category: Blue Skies, Marine Corps, Terror War
Damn it
Fair winds and following seas, Marine.
This is painful to process except to extend condolences to our lost Marine’s Family as well as thoughts and prayers to our brave, wounded Warriors.
Semper Fi. Salute to the fallen Brother in Arms.
A lucky strike. That’s it? A lucky strike? The wounded and the Fallen were in a combat zone where enemy wished to harm them. The enemy knew where they were, loaded a weapon, and fired it at the Marines. I don’t dismiss that as a lucky strike. I call it a well placed round deliberately fired and I hate this bullshit wordplay. I am sick of it. Our people are f’n targets w/o the political will to let them do what they were trained to do.
+1, exactly… ‘no boots on the ground’, I guess…
I do not like the term “lucky” in this case.
“Unusually effective rocket attack” maybe?. While these guys are pretty accurate with mortars they are terrible with rockets.
In my experience they were pretty crappy with mortars as well.
I guess it depends on who we are taking about. The mortar teams in our area were Iranian. They were very accurate. Over 120 rounds hit our combat outpost and only one landed outside the wire. The rockets all missed though.
The rockets are usually inaccurate because they are removed from their multiple launch containment, and launched from a jury-rigged device by pointing them in the general direction of their target.
“Luck” is a relative term. It can be bad, it can be good. It all depends on how, and to whom it is applied. I prefer not to use it in my vocabulary since it is ambiguous at best. Unfortunately, one of our Leathernecks was killed and several wounded. Rest in peace, and may the swine who killed him roast in pig shit for eternity.
Damn.
IDF does not give a crap about what your job is. A former Soldier of mine took shrapnel in the neck when he stepped outside the detention facility he was working at to smoke a cigarette. Luckily a Platoon of MPs had just pulled in to drop off a detainee and had a medic with them.
“IDF does not give a crap about what your job is.”
VERY TRUE, that bullet or flying piece of red hot shrapnel doesn’t give a damn about anything in its path, much like how Mr. Frag grenade is NOBODY’S friend once one pulls the pin!
Rest In Peace Marine. God be with your family now and that of those wounded.
Damned shame it is.
The term manifest destiny applies here in the projection that in any combat, in any country on any given day………someone is going to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Most of us who made it home in one piece wonder how the hell it was the other guy instead of us.
R I P Marine…your work on earth has been completed. Semper Fi till the day I die.
Two days ago, after the rocket attack, some Bad Guys were just walking along, minding their own business when, quite by luck, they happened upon the same place in which the lucky-strike rocket landed, killing a Marine and wounding others. Luck was again on the side of the Bad Guys because they had brought their rifles along for their stroll. They opened up on the Marines who returned fire, dispatching two of the lucky ones. The other Bad Guys boogied.