DUNNIGAN’S ROUNDUP
StrategyPage, not surprisingly, reports that things are going well. The interesting thing about today’s column was this paragraph:
U.S. casualties have been revised upward, with the total wounded upped to 399, from the previous 155. The reason is problems with reporting, with many minor wounds, treated on the spot for a soldier who went back to his unit, recorded only later. The wounds counted earlier were the ones that came back to field hospitals. Another potential problem with counting wounds is how to rate bullets being stopped by the new protective vests (which are truly bulletproof to rifle bullets). These often leave a major bruise behind, or even a cracked rib? Is this guy “wounded.” In most cases, the soldier says some nice things about the vest manufacturer, thanks God and gets back into the fight. Anyway, after 21 days of combat, U.S. casualties are now at 518 (101 dead, 399 “wounded”, 11 missing and seven prisoners. This comes to 8 casualties per division per day. Still a historical low for divisions on the offensive and in contact with the enemy for three weeks.
It is indeed amazing how small the casualty count is, even when counting as “wounds” the sort of injuries people might get doing minor home repairs. May it continue: Remember, in Gulf War I, a huge chunk of our casualties came in a single Scud attack on a rear echelon base after the war seemed all but over. My estimate was that we’d lose 200; I’d like to stay well short of that.
