Guard gear burned, looted en route to Balad

[unhappycamper]

Guard gear burned, looted en route to Balad
By James MacPherson - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 4, 2007 6:12:21 EDT

BISMARCK, N.D. — Members of a North Dakota National Guard unit clearing roadside bombs in Iraq had a shipment of military and personal gear burned and looted somewhere between Kuwait and Balad, the Guard said Wednesday.

The 104 soldiers of the Jamestown-based 817th Engineer Company have been in Iraq for about a month, and had been awaiting the arrival of two containers containing military equipment, footlockers and duffel bags, Guard spokesman Bill Prokopyk said.

A truck hauling the containers from Kuwait caught fire, scorching the outside of the containers, said Lt. Dan Murphy.

“A brake pad possibly overheated and that’s what may have caused it,” Murphy said. He did not know if it was the U.S. military or a contractor that hauled the containers.

“It’s under investigation,” Murphy said.

Prokopyk said the containers were opened Sunday in Iraq. One container, that held military equipment, had its contents destroyed by the fire, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_burnedgear_071003/



uhc comment: Mortaritaville looks better than it did a few short years ago. --> http://iraqpartii.blogspot.com/2007/09/balad-iraq-war-is-hell.html