First US Deaths in the 2024 Counter-Piracy Campaign
not a bloodless conflict
We lost two SEALs over the weekend;
The Navy SEALs lost at sea after a ship-boarding operation went awry near Somalia last week were dispatched to look for suspected Iranian weapons bound for militants in Yemen, which has become a staging ground for repeated attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, two U.S. officials familiar with the incident said Sunday.
The two service members who went missing were preparing to board the ship in rough seas when one of them slipped from a ladder. The second sailor, seeing their comrade fall into the water, dove in to help, the officials said on the condition of anonymity to describe early assessments. The incident occurred Thursday in the Gulf of Aden.
This was not a training accident; our Navy and the ships she is protecting is being fired on by the Houthi who are getting those weapons from Iran. Iran transports those weapons by sea. We have to intercept those ships because if we don’t, the missiles will be used against us.
The Gulf of Aden is no small body of water either. It is roughly the size of the Black Sea.
So, at this point we have not lost USN Sailors because some Houthi flying lawnmower drone, ASCM, or ASBM - but make no mistake; we’ve lost Sailors. This is not extended unscheduled range time.
They have not released their names as of yet. The Pentagon should have. Hell, the CNO should have demanded - unless she is being told not to, which would not surprise me - that their names be released.
I’m waiting for Yardley to write that we had it coming because America once allowed slavery.
Thank you for updating this information. As a civilian I am always left somewhat off balance by the idea that the US military doesn't take a day off because the conditions aren't perfect, and as a Texan on the Gulf of Mexico I feel compelled to make sure that we recall that the USCG is out there every day as well. I am saddened that the families of these young men have started off the New Year with this news.