Humvees linked to 1 in 5 U.S. deaths in Iraq

In the earliest days of the war in Iraq, an enemy grenade destroyed the Humvee carrying Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and four other soldiers caught in an ambush in Nasiriyah. Though Lynch was spared, the others died. Last week, nearly two years later, Army 1st Lt. Christopher Barnett, 32, of Baton Rouge, La., was killed on a patrol mission in the outskirts of Baghdad when a roadside bomb eviscerated his Humvee. Throughout the 21-month war, no other piece of military materiel has been associated with so many U.S. fatalities. According to a Scripps Howard News Service study, at least 1 in 5 of the 1,320 fallen American troops has died in incidents involving the ubiquitous vehicles. Hundreds more have been wounded in them. No other piece of war equipment has been the focus of as much criticism, as well. When Congress returns in January, high on its agenda will be hearings into what some lawmakers, frustrated troops and anxious families say have been the needless deaths and maimings of GIs - particularly early in the war - while traveling in vehicles unduly vulnerable to bombs and other attacks. Based on official Pentagon casualty reports, news accounts and interviews, the Scripps Howard study found at least 275 troop deaths have been associated with Humvees. [more]