(Sorry for the formatting more in extended)
Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen died about 10 p.m. Tuesday at Forward Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit, and the military said then that "an indirect fire attack" killed them.
"The initial investigation by responders and military police indicated that a mortar round struck the window on the side of the building where Esposito and Allen were located at the time," a military statement said.
"Upon further examination of the scene by explosive ordnance personnel, it was determined the blast pattern was inconsistent with a mortar attack," the document states.
The Army is looking at a number of scenarios including accidental death, attack by an intruder or infiltrator and fragging, which is the killing or wounding of a fellow soldier.
Both officers were "assigned to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard. Esposito was the company commander; Allen served as a company operations officer," the statement reads.
Why is this buried? Why is it buried in the middle of a story about Marines bombed? Maybe I've been wearing too much tin-foil lately, but I've heard this tune before.
FULL TEXT:
Friday, June 10, 2005 Posted: 1:35 PM EDT (1735 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Five U.S. Marines died after a bomb hit their vehicle near Haqlaniya in Anbar province, the Marines said Friday.
The assault happened Thursday while the troops were conducting combat operations.
They were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
Their deaths bring the number of U.S. troops killed in the war to 1,690.
Also on Friday, the U.S. Army disclosed that it is conducting a "criminal investigation" into the deaths of two Task Force Liberty soldiers who died Tuesday.
Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen died about 10 p.m. Tuesday at Forward Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit, and the military said then that "an indirect fire attack" killed them.
"The initial investigation by responders and military police indicated that a mortar round struck the window on the side of the building where Esposito and Allen were located at the time," a military statement said.
"Upon further examination of the scene by explosive ordnance personnel, it was determined the blast pattern was inconsistent with a mortar attack," the document states.
The Army is looking at a number of scenarios including accidental death, attack by an intruder or infiltrator and fragging, which is the killing or wounding of a fellow soldier.
Both officers were "assigned to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard. Esposito was the company commander; Allen served as a company operations officer," the statement reads.