WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania have died, but that he did not yet know the details.
A U.S. official would say only that the four soldiers were involved in a training accident. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not comment on the status of the soldiers.
Rutte said during a trip to Warsaw that he had received word of the deaths of the four soldiers and that his thoughts were with their families and with the United States.
“This is still early news so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones,” Rutte told reporters in Warsaw.
I know it happens for real but when I read about soldiers dead in a mysterious “training accident” I do wonder what black op went bad.
They drove their M88 Hercules tank recovery vehicle into a peat bog. It sank. It’s currently 5 meters deep in mud.
I think (speculation) they likely got out and tried swimming, but had no equipment for a peat bog. You don’t simply swim in a peat bog, you need an inflatable or styrofoam board to rescue yourself or others. It’s not possible to swim through semi-liquid peat. In the old days, one would use several wooden planks, but that puts the rescuer in big danger and their vehicle likely produced no floating debris to help them.
Water is cold like hell. Winter just ended around here, snow is still around in shady places (I’m a bit north, but it’s pretty much the same in Lithuania). Bogs warm up by summer. One can be in perfect physical condition, but hypothermia disables an unprotected person in water pretty fast (20 minutes). After that, drowning kills the person.
Alternatively, they didn’t get out.
Condolences to their families and comrades. :( This should not have happened. Instruction about the dangers of some local landscapes should have been more thorough. :(
P.S. Additions / corrections, since journalists finally reached the area and there are photos.
The area has peat bogs, but this is a bog lake. The ground is very soft and the bottom is very muddy. Lithuanians are literally building a road there with an ultra-wide-tracked excavator, likely with the goal of getting a heavy construction crane into range of the sinking place. Since the vehicle is 60+ tons, I think they’ll bring a crane rated for 120+ tons.
Since the lake looks like one could climb out (the far side has forest), the men are likely in the vehicle. Since the vehicle is not waterproofed, they’re unfortunately dead.
Since the lake is clearly discernible as a lake, I think they drove in darkness without anyone having their head out, and toppled into the lake sideways by going on “ground” that liquefied and didn’t support their vehicle.
What are the odds of those soldiers recently speaking up about crimes they witnessed?
as in?
Sexual assault. Or shooting non-combatants. Nah…probably just incompetence of commanding officers as usual.
I’d like to second what @5714 said about baseless speculation. Please don’t, in the spirit of rules 2 and 9.
Until we have more information from/about them, I’d say this is baseless speculation.
Vehicle found in the water. Probably navigation error. Lord knows that’s not uncommon. Notably the army itself hasn’t confirmed any deaths, but seeing as they’re still missing, it’s likely they are.
Weren’t they found dead in a bog?
What do you think a bog is?
Apparently the news where too quick. It was first stated that the four soldiers where found dead, which now has changed to their vehicle being found.
During a training exercise in Lithuania!? Do you hear yourself?
