Heat of Battle Takes Toll on U.S. Forces - Brutal Temperatures in Iraq

Despite military efforts, troops are unable to avoid combat during summer. Health woes have sidelined some as temperatures near 130. In two days of combat, U.S. Army Spc. Steve Koetting dodged bullets, overcame sleep deprivation and endured the stress of fighting grave-to-grave in a cemetery against an enemy who rarely showed his face. In the end, however, it was Iraq's oppressive heat that put the 21-year-old soldier on his back and out of the fight. Koetting is one of about half a dozen soldiers who have been evacuated from the front line in recent days because of heat exhaustion and related problems. Several dozen more have been treated on the battlefield in this south-central Iraqi city, where U.S. troops and armed followers of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr are squaring off. With temperatures approaching 130 degrees, medics fear that casualties will increase. [more ]