Nearly 1/5 of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza died due to friendly fire and other accidents, IDF says

At least 20 of the 105 soldiers who died amid Israel's ground offensive in Gaza were killed in accidents, including friendly fire, the Israel Defense Forces said.



Dec. 12, 2023
By Chantal Da Silva

TEL AVIV — About one-fifth of Israeli soldiers killed during Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, which began in late October, died from friendly fire and other accidents, the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday.

At least 105 Israeli soldiers have died since the military began ground operations began in Gaza, an IDF spokesperson said. At least 20 of those deaths were caused by "accidents," they said.

Of those 20 deaths, 13 were caused by friendly fire, or internal fire from the military's own troops. Six were caused by other accidents related to "weaponry, machinery, trampling," they said. At least one death was caused by firing irregularities.

The incidents of soldiers killed by friendly fire were due to mistaken identification in airstrikes, tank shelling and gunfire, the Times of Israel separately reported.

One soldier was killed in gunfire that was not intended to hit them, the outlet reported, while another two were killed in accidental misfires.

Two soldiers, according to the Times, were killed in incidents involving armored vehicles running over troops, and two others were killed by shrapnel, including from explosives set off by Israeli forces.

An IDF spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for further information on the deaths and any injuries related to accidents.

The IDF has said it is constantly assessing the ongoing fighting in Gaza, including the cases of friendly fire, the Times of Israel reported.

Atlantic Council fellow and military intelligence expert Alex Plitsas said that in the "fog of war" it is difficult to discern whether the number of fatalities related to accidents, amounting to just under 20% of the 105 killed, could reflect any broader issues around the IDF and the offensive.

"Obviously, any time there's a friendly fire incident ... it needs to be looked at and investigated," he said.

"It is a significant percentage when you look at it, right?" he said. "But also, when you look at the overall number of soldiers who have been killed from a statistical standpoint, right, is it statistically significant to suggest that there is a major problem that's related, that is causing these incidents? Or are these a handful of incidents and because of the number of soldiers killed is around 100 right now, it looks statistically worse than it actually is?"

"It's hard to tell without evaluating each of the incidents," he said, adding: "I would imagine that the Israelis are taking a look at this situation ... and that there will be, I think, investigations into what transpired."

Israeli troops have been on the ground in Gaza since late October, when they gradually began operations after suggesting for days that a full-scale ground invasion could take place.

In the weeks since then, their ground and aerial offensive has expanded, with Israel initially ordering civilians in northern Gaza to move south, where they were told they would find safety.

But in recent weeks, southern Gaza has also faced relentless bombardment, leaving roughly 90% of the population in the enclave displaced, according to the United Nations, while close to 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave.

Israel has said it will continue its offensive until Hamas is eliminated and until all of the more than 100 people still held hostage during its brutal Oct. 7 attack are freed.

Hamas and other militants took around 240 people hostage that day, and killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Dozens of those hostages were released amid a recent cease-fire, while others have died in captivity.

Canadian Death Toll In Afghanistan

For those who are keeping track, and who isn't, espcially those of you with office pools here is a break down of who has killed our troops in Afghanistan.

Total killed: 33

Killed by Taliban or Insurgents: 10

Suicide Bomber: 5

Accidents: 13
(including land mine explosions often misidentified as 'roadside bombings' in the press)

Killed by Friendly Fire/American Air Force: 5


It's a tie between suicide bombers and Americans bombing us.

And we have had more accidental deaths then deaths at the hands of the Taliban.

Accidents and Friendly Fire have killed more Canadian troops than the Taliban and suicide bombers. And half those accidents were from landmines.

Afghanistan is one of the heaviest mined countries in the world. In spite of eight years of intensive mine clearance, in 1999 only 146 square kilometers of mined area have been cleared. An area of 713 square kilometers remains to be cleared. Landmines kill or maim an estimated ten to twelve people each day in Afghanistan. It is believed that almost 50 percent of landmine victims die due to lack of medical facilities.

This is a really succesful mission so far. For instance this weekends big push against the Taliban resulted in five more Canadian soldiers deaths. Three by the Taliban, one by American friendly fire, one in a plane crash (accident).

The monument to Canadian soldiers who've died on duty in Afghanistan since 2002, situated outside of the Canadian headquarters at Kandahar airfield
Photograph by : CP PHOTO/Murray Brewster

Also See:

Friendly Fire

Afghanistan

War





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How Many Israelis Killed by ‘Friendly Fire’?

The IDF appears to have fired on hostages on several occasions throughout the Gaza war

by Will Porter Posted onApril 26, 2024

An elderly Israeli woman abducted by Hamas during the group’s October 7 attack was likely gunned down by an IDF aircraft, an internal military probe has found. To date, Tel Aviv has offered few details about other captives who may have been killed by friendly fire.

The 67-year-old grandmother, Efrat Katz, was taken hostage from the Nir Oz Kibbutz during Hamas’ surprise assault on Israel last year. Footage of her kidnapping showed the woman squeezed into the bed of a truck alongside her daughter and two grandchildren, a harrowing clip that would mark some of Katz’s final moments.The results of an internal Israeli military probe were published on April 5, acknowledging the IDF not only “failed to protect civilians” at the kibbutz, but had inadvertently contributed to the carnage.

“It appears that during the battles and the airstrikes, one of the combat helicopters that took part in the fighting fired at a vehicle that had terrorists in it, and, in retrospect, according to the evidence, it turned out that there were also hostages in it,” the investigation found. “As a result of the shooting, most of the terrorists manning the vehicles were killed, and apparently the late Efrat Katz.”

However, the probe concluded that because the hostages “could not be distinguished” from Palestinian fighters during the IDF counterattack, the helicopter crew was not at fault for Katz’s death. For the airmen, “the shooting was defined as shooting at a vehicle with terrorists,” the report continued.

According to Al Jazeera, Katz’s daughter and two grandchildren survived the attack, and were later freed following a prisoner exchange agreed with Hamas in November. The Palestinian armed group kidnapped more than 200 people on October 7 – among them Israeli soldiers and civilians in addition to foreign nationals – with around half of them released as part of last year’s deal.

Collateral Damage

Katz’s untimely death is merely one among many reported ‘friendly fire’ casualties inflicted by Israeli forces on and since October 7.

While the IDF has acknowledged 41 deaths among its own troops resulting from “operational accidents” throughout the war, it offers no official figures for hostages killed under similar circumstances.

In one rare exception, the military publicized the shooting of three Israeli hostages during an IDF ground raid in Gaza City last December – with one of the men killed as he waved a white flag and pleaded for help in Hebrew. None of the troops involved faced repercussions after the incident, which was deemed a simple mistake amid the fog of war.

To date, Tel Aviv has confirmed that 33 of the remaining 136 captives in Gaza have been killed, though officials have declined to specify their cause of death. The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed al-Qassam wing, Abu Obeida, placed that figure much higher, claiming at least 70 hostages had been killed as a result of Israeli operations as of March 1.

Survivors of Hamas’ October onslaught have also described brazen friendly-fire attacks by Israeli tank crews, with Kibbutz Be’eri resident Yasmin Porat telling local media that some hostages were “undoubtedly” shot by their own people.

“They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,” Porat said in an interview with Israeli broadcaster Kan, adding that “After insane crossfire, two tank shells were shot into the house… at that moment everyone was killed.”

An October 20 report in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz also detailed the lethal response at Be’eri, citing a member of the community’s security team, Tovel Escapa, who recounted indiscriminate firing on homes.

“Only after the commanders in the field made difficult decisions – including shelling houses on their occupants in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages – did the IDF complete the takeover of the kibbutz,” the paper reported. “The price was terrible: at least 112 Be’eri people were killed.” The outlet did not clarify whether those deaths were inflicted by Israeli forces alone.

Underscoring the confusion during Israel’s response on October 7, other local media reports noted that IDF helicopters likely fired on civilians at the infamous Nova music festival – where more than 350 people lost their lives, most at the hands of Hamas. Israeli pilots later described “tremendous difficulty” in distinguishing fighters from noncombatants amid the chaos, while some gunship operators reportedly launched barrages against unidentified targets “without authorization from superiors.”

“[One] soldier told me, ‘Fire over there. The terrorists are there.’ I asked him, ‘Are there any civilians there?’ His response was, ‘I don’t know, just fire,’” one serviceman told Israel’s Channel 12, referring to an operation near the Holit kibbutz.

Hannibal Returns?

Officially, as of 2016 Israel’s military says it no longer employs the controversial ‘Hannibal Directive’ – a policy instructing soldiers to sacrifice their own comrades to prevent capture by enemy forces. However, some IDF troops have indicated the measure may still be in place to this day.

Asked about the policy by name during a recent media interview, IDF field commander Bar Zonshein said he ordered a strike on his own men after they had been captured by Hamas fighters on October 7 – even describing a formal procedure to invoke the supposedly-defunct directive.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper similarly reported that troops had been ordered to strike invading Hamas militants “at all costs” – even if that meant endangering hostages – while Israeli Col. Nof Erez described the October 7 response as a “mass Hannibal” operation.

Inspired by the capture of IDF troops during Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in the 1980s, the policy was seemingly designed to avoid complex and embarrassing prisoner swap deals with the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas, which frequently entail Israeli concessions. The protocol has been deployed repeatedly in subsequent conflicts, with the IDF adopting a highly permissive stance toward civilian casualties while carrying out the directive.

Though Palestinian noncombatants have borne the brunt of that policy since its inception decades ago, a number of Israeli observers have questioned whether Hannibal was invoked against their fellow citizens on October 7.

“We must determine exactly what happened that day. Was there a decision to eliminate the terrorists even if there was a significant risk that the hostages would also be killed? Was the Hannibal Directive applied to civilians?” asked Haaretz reporter Noa Limone.

Omri Shafroni, a resident of Be’eri and a relative of one of the victims killed in Hamas’ attack, has demanded an official investigation into Israel’s response, noting the circumstances of many civilian deaths remain unexplained.

“I do not rule out the possibility that [my relative] and others were killed by IDF fire. It could be that they died from the terrorists’ fire, or it could be that they died from the IDF’s fire, because there was a very heavy firefight,” he said last November, voicing frustration over the lack of any probe.

“It is very strange to me that until now we have not conducted an operational investigation into an event in which 13 hostages were apparently murdered and no negotiations were carried out,” Shafroni added.

Will Porter is assistant news editor at the Libertarian Institute and a regular contributor at Antiwar.com. Find more of his work at Consortium News and ZeroHedge.

How the Kobe earthquake could change the way we fight wildfires

By Damon Embling • Updated: 01/03/2022 - 

In partnership with

Copyright euronews


Every year, deadly wildfires destroy homes and consume vast swathes of natural habitat. In this episode we see how a new eco-friendly fire-fighting foam, could be a global game-changer.

Lessons from Kobe

Wildfires ravage many parts of the world and with predictions of hotter, drier weather we are likely to see even more of them in future. The Japanese city of Kitakyushu had 10 forest fires last year alone. It was here the fire service came up with the fire-fighting foam. It was originally conceived to reduce the water needed to put out building fires after the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

“During this earthquake, many fires started. At the time, fire hydrants and fire cisterns were destroyed by the earthquake and we couldn’t store water,” Sakamoto Masaaki, from the Fire and Disaster Management Bureau in Kitakyushu explained.

Teaming up with a city university and soap company, the fire service perfected the foam which is created by mixing a solution, made from naturally-sourced soap, into water.

The foam is chemical-free, biodegradable and works by disrupting water droplets.

“When the fire extinguishing agent is mixed, the droplet of water is not able to form and becomes sticky. So, it’s well absorbed in the openings of fabrics or wood,” Masaaki said.

The success of the foam focused researchers’ minds on how it could be used elsewhere, notably wildfires.

University of Kitakyushu research shows that it’s up to 266 times less harmful than other synthetic versions.
T

The fire-fighting foam is chemical-free, biodegradable and works by disrupting water droplets.© Euronews

“There is data showing that water consumption can be reduced to less than one seventeenth. And for environmental performance, it is much less toxic to fish and other aquatic life than synthetic extinguishing agents," said Dr. Kawahara Takayoshi, Director, Research & Development Department, Shabondama Soap Company Ltd.

“In addition, as it is 100 percent decomposed by environmental microorganisms, there is no residue in the environment,” he added.

“International academic conferences for wildfires are organised across the world. We took part with university professors and staff from Kitakyushu City fire department. Some people were interested in our environmentally-friendly extinguishing agent,” Morita Hayato, President of Shabondama Soap Company Ltd, told Euronews.
Protecting peatland

The foam has made its way to Borneo island. Home to dense forests and waterways, peatland fires are a particular problem. Indonesian university researchers have been trying out the foam in a range of experiments - including on a test fire.

Ten months later, they found the vegetation had grown back.

From my previous experiences, putting out fires with only water is very difficult. But by using this soap, in a short time we get very good results.

Kitso Kusin

Field Coordinator, CIMTROP Peatland Laboratory, Palang Karaya University

When peat catches fire, embers can continue burning underground for a long time, releasing harmful gases. The Japanese soap-based foam penetrates the soil, putting them out. Something that was invaluable in Borneo in 2019, during a real forest fire.

The foam has been tested and used in Borneo.

Euronews

Field Coordinator Kitso Kusin told Euronews: “After we put out the fire, the next day it was back on. Luckily at that time, there was a stock of Shabondama soap left over from the previous field testing that we used to put out the fire.

“Even though we didn’t have much soap left, we felt that the results were very effective in putting out the remaining fires.”

Back in Japan, green-minded Kitakyushu now plans to test the foam in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, too. Further building on university-industry collaborations and helping to cut global CO2 emissions.

“We hope that with the use of this foam fire extinguisher, we can control CO2 emissions a little and greatly contribute to climate change measures,” said Arita Yuichi, Director of Kitakyushu City's Environment Bureau.

ECOCIDE, AIR POLLUTION

Dixie Fire now California’s largest wildfire of the season

Blaze grew to 142,940 acres Friday after surpassing the Beckwourth Complex

Smoke rises from the Dixie Fire burning along Highway 70 in Plumas National Forest, Calif., on Friday, July 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

By FIONA KELLIHER | fkelliher@bayareanewsgroup.com and JASON GREEN |

  jason.green@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED:  July 23, 2021 

Ten days after it broke out in remote Butte County, the Dixie Fire is now California’s largest wildfire of the season — and the fight to contain it is only expected to get more difficult.

As of Friday morning, the fire had scorched 142,940 acres — up nearly 30,000 acres overnight — and was about 18% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. To the east, the Beckwourth Complex, the state’s previous leader, had charred 105,670 acres but was 98% contained.

The Dixie Fire has exploded across extremely dry, rugged terrain, torching treetops and running up steep hills out of reach of firefighting equipment. Through the weekend, more than 4,000 firefighters will face face hot temperatures and grueling hikes through thickly blanketed forests.

“You look at some of these places, and you’re looking straight across at trees, and they’re not far from you — but in between you and those trees might be a thousand feet down and a thousand feet back up,” said Rick Carhart, a public information officer with Cal Fire Butte County. “Imagine trying to work in those conditions and get tools and equipment into those places.”

The fire ignited July 14 about 10 miles northeast of Paradise. It remained more or less stable for several days – burning away from the footprint of the 2018 Camp Fire – before its spread accelerated over the weekend.

Crews’ top priority is to stop flames from reaching populated communities, including homes along the shore of the popular vacation destination Lake Almanor to the north, Jonesville and the High Lakes Area to the west, isolated pockets of homes along the Highway 70 corridor, and those near Buck’s Lake to the southeast, Carhart said.

Towns like Paradise and Concow have remained out of harm’s way as the fire burns northward. In that region and near Butt Valley reservoir, crews have partially relied on old bulldozer lines from past blazes such as the Camp Fire and the 2012 Chips Fire.

“We don’t want the fire moving toward the communities, but it does move into terrain that we can better defend,” Carhart said.

Still, drastically improving containment numbers will likely prove elusive through at least early next week: Fire-friendly weather conditions show no sign of letting up yet, Cal Fire incident meteorologist Julia Ruthford lamented in a briefing Thursday evening.


Relative humidity has remained in the low teens, and temperatures were forecast to soar into the 90s across the region this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

“Unfortunately, that critical pattern is going to continue and actually worsen over the next couple of days,” said Ruthford. A ridge of high pressure is expected to build over the area, resulting in “significant warming” and even drier conditions, she added.

“I really wish I had better news to tell you,” she said.

The vegetation fueling the fire is meanwhile unusually dry for this time of the year, said Chris Waters, a deputy incident commander with California Incident Management Team One. Ground fuels — in particular large, deadened vegetation known as 1,000-hour fuels — are “already at critical levels and fully available to burn unimpeded,” he said.

“We are at conditions that we wouldn’t be seeing usually until we get to late September or early October, which is late in the year, and right now we are in mid-July,” Waters said.

Crews are also contending with long-range spot fires and new starts. Embers are traveling up the smoke column and sometimes falling up to five miles ahead of the main fire, something Waters said he hadn’t previously seen in his 20 years on the job. Late Thursday, a fresh blaze known as the Fly Fire broke out just north of Keddie in Butterfly Valley, quickly torching about 1,650 acres across Highway 70.

The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office has expanded mandatory evacuation orders to include Greenville, Crescent Mills, Round Valley Reservoir, Dixie Canyon and Indian Falls. A full list of current evacuation orders and warnings is available here.

Eight structures have been destroyed by the fire, and hundreds more are threatened.

The Dixie Fire is the latest to rock the state amid a historic drought that experts fear could make this year one of the West Coast’s worst fire seasons yet. To the north, the massive Bootleg Fire on the Oregon border has burned more than 400,000 acres and was about 40% contained as of Friday.
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Carthart could not estimate how much longer crews may be battling the Dixie Fire, but urged those in the region to heed evacuation warnings and to be extra cautious about starting new fires given how fast fuels are burning.

“Because this fire is so dynamic, we’re still noses to the ground, just working as hard as we can,” Carhart said.

Afghan Civilian Deaths No Accident

Accident, murder is the word, murdered not by accident but by deliberate strategic air attacks.

Afghan police said overnight bombing in Helmand province left 25 villagers dead, which by one count would mean at least 250 civilians have died by accident this year under fire from international forces and their Afghan allies.

By one estimate, that suggests civilian casualties are running at twice the rate of last year. Human Rights Watch has estimated that NATO and U.S. military operations killed 230 civilians in 2006.

And its not International forces, its American air support.

Americans are infamous for air support friendly fire incidents in Afghanistan, where they have killed our own troops, and in Iraq, where they killed British troops. Let alone the regular civilian casualties which have occurred this year almost every time air support operations were launched in Afghanistan.

Which is why land based tank and infantry missions are more successful in NOT killing villagers. You can see who the bad guys are, while from the air everyone looks the same, little blips on the computer screen.

This is a great way NOT to win hearts and minds. And all the PR fluff about the Taliban using human shields cannot cover up the fact that air support is a sure fire way to get civilians killed.


Also See:

Friendly Fire

Afghanistan

War





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Harpers War Costs-58 Dead

The body count grows as Canada once again plays a leading role in a colonial war.

July has been the worst for our troops. In May and June there were two deaths.

By yesterday July had recorded the most deaths in a day, a week and a month.

Last time we lost troops in a mission to get 'blooded', as General Hillier calls it,

A recent comment by Canada's military boss, Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, that the job of Canadian troops "is to be able to kill people,"

the blunt-speaking Gen. Hillier has denigrated those fighting against Canadian troops in Afghanistan as "detestable murderers and scumbags."

in order to 'prove' ourselves to our Colonial masters, was Dieppe and Dunkirk. And like those historical debacles our soldiers are being sacrificed in Kandahar in another failed Imperial mission.

Twenty-two soldiers have now been killed on this rotation alone; by this time last year only eight had died.

The last three months have seen five deadly explosions claim a total of 19 Canadian soldiers with four weeks of summer fighting season to go before this deployment returns to Canada.

Before we even were fully committed to the Kandahar mission, knowing our own troops were subject to friendly fire as much as enemy fire, Harper ignored the death of a Canadian soldier, shot in the back by our American allies, in order to have his government blooded.

While Canadian military authorities continue to drag their heels, the U.S. Army says Pte. Robert Costall was killed by friendly fire – apparently American special forces.

The 22-year-old machine-gunner, born in Thunder Bay and deployed to Afghanistan with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was the first Canadian firefight casualty in that country.

He was slain during a fierce battle March 29, 2006, after his rapid-response platoon was sent to a forward operating base in support of Afghan and special forces troops who had come under siege.

Yesterday, the U.S. Army released its investigation results to Associated Press, asserting that Costall and an American sergeant, also killed that night, were shot from behind in a burst of machine-gun fire that originated from within the compound at Forward Operating Base Robinson, some 110 kilometres northwest of Kandahar City.

With every death Harper denies the futility of his war.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement following the death, offering his condolences to family and friends of Caswell.

"Without security there can be no development in Afghanistan, and thanks to soldiers like Trooper Caswell, we are making significant progress. He has left a valuable legacy and we will be forever grateful for the ultimate sacrifice he has made for our country," the statement read.

While his commanders on the ground point out the futility of claiming this is a humanitarian project for redevelopment. It is a counter insurgency, an anti-opium mission, it is America's war that we are fighting and loosing.

Lt.-Col. Bob Chamberlain, commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, lamented that there are districts in the province where a sudden upsurge in Taliban activity has kept redevelopment and humanitarian activity barricaded inside forward operating bases.

If Canada cannot record enough military progress to secure areas so the vital work of rebuilding the shattered lives of the Afghan people can proceed, one has to wonder if the entire mission isn't in jeopardy.

"Everything in war is very simple," Von Clausewitz wrote in On War. "But the simplest thing is difficult."

Hope is confident the superior training and equipment of his army will vanquish the insurgents.

"For centuries, it's the biggest, best-armed tribe that has ruled Afghanistan," he says. "Well, we have a heck of a big, well-armed tribe."

No one points out that the Soviets held the same opinion of their tribe.

And while the media reports the total casualties since 2002, that obscures the fact that more Canadian troops have died since Harper declared this his war in 2006, then died in the four years prior to that.

Eight Canadians, including our Diplomat to Afghanistan, died prior to Harper declaring his war in Kandahar; dubbed Operation Peacemaker. The Orwellian irony being deliberate as Harper and Hillier took us from Peacekeeping operations to active warfare; Peacemaking.

Since then his government has been responsible for the death of the remaining 58 Canadian troops in their efforts at peacemaking.

Canadian death toll in Afghanistan: 66 soldiers, one diplomat

By The Canadian Press

Since 2002, 66 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan. Here is a list of the deaths:

2007

July 4 — Cpl. Cole Bartsch, Capt. Matthew Johnathan Dawe and Pte. Lane Watkins, all of 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton; and Master Cpl. Colin Bason, a reservist from The Royal Westminster Regiment based in New Westminster, B.C. The family of the other two killed have not yet agreed to the release of their names. Killed by a road side bomb in Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city.

June 20 — Sgt. Christos Karigiannis, Cpl. Stephen Frederick Bouzane and Pte. Joel Vincent Wiebe, all of 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry killed by a roadside bomb west of Kandahar.

June 11 — Trooper Darryl Caswell, 25, of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, by a roadside bomb north of Kandahar.

May 30 — Master Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede, killed when a U.S. helicopter was reportedly shot down by the Taliban in Helmand province.

May 25 — Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25, killed by an improvised explosive device in Zhari District.

April 18 — Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer, who served with elite special forces, died after falling from a communications tower while on duty conducting surveillance in Kandahar City.

April 11 — Master Cpl. Allan Stewart and Trooper Patrick James Pentland killed when their Coyote vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

April 8 — Sgt. Donald Lucas, Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, Pte. Kevin V. Kennedy, Pte. David R. Greenslade, Cpl. Christopher P. Stannix and Cpl. Brent Poland killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

March 6 — Cpl. Kevin Megeney, 25, killed in accidental shooting at NATO base in Kandahar.

2006

Nov. 27 — Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard and Cpl. Albert Storm killed by suicide car bomber.

Oct. 14 — Sgt. Darcy Tedford and Pte. Blake Williamson killed in ambush.

Oct. 7 — Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson killed by roadside bomb.

Oct. 3 — Sgt. Craig Gillam and Cpl. Robert Mitchell killed in series of mortar, rocket attacks.

Sept. 29 — Pte. Josh Klukie killed by explosion in Panjwaii while on foot patrol.

Sept. 18 — Pte. David Byers, Cpl. Shane Keating, Cpl. Keith Morley and Cpl. Glen Arnold killed in suicide bicycle bomb attack while on foot patrol in Panjwaii.

Sept. 4 — Pte. Mark Graham killed when two NATO planes accidentally strafed Canadian troops in Panjwaii district.

Sept. 3 — Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Pte. William Cushley and Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan killed in fighting in Panjwaii district.

Aug. 22 — Cpl. David Braun killed in suicide attack.

Aug. 11 — Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom killed in suicide attack.

Aug. 9 — Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh killed by apparent accidental discharge of rifle.

Aug. 5 — Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt killed when his G-Wagon patrol vehicle collided with truck.

Aug. 3 — Cpl. Christopher Reid killed by roadside bomb. Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, Cpl. Bryce Keller and Pte. Kevin Dallaire killed in rocket-propelled grenade attack.

July 22 — Cpl. Francisco Gomez and Cpl. Jason Warren killed when car packed with explosives rammed their armoured vehicle.

July 9 — Cpl. Anthony Boneca killed in firefight.

May 17 — Capt. Nichola Goddard killed in Taliban ambush. She was first Canadian woman to be killed in action while serving in combat role.

April 22 — Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Lt. William Turner and Cpl. Randy Payne killed when their G-Wagon destroyed by roadside bomb.

March 29 — Pte. Robert Costall killed in firefight with Taliban. (Friendly fire shot in the back by American forces. ep)

March 2 — Cpl. Paul Davis and Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson killed when their armoured vehicle ran off road.

Jan. 15 — Glyn Berry, British-born Canadian diplomat, killed in suicide bombing.

2005

Nov. 24 — Pte. Braun Woodfield killed when his armoured vehicle rolled over.

2004

Jan. 27 — Cpl. Jamie Murphy killed in suicide bombing while on patrol.

2003

Oct. 2 — Sgt. Robert Short and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger killed in roadside bombing.

2002

April 17 — Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith killed when U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed Canadians.

And since most of the recent Canadian deaths have happened from buried explosives, one cannot assume they are from the Taliban. As I have point out before their deaths could have been the result of the thousands of hidden land mines buried through-out the area.

Maj. Andy Walker, the officer commanding Armoured Support Company for 3 Commando Brigade, has done three tours of duty in Iraq where his soldiers constantly faced the threat of IEDs.

He said he’d rather fight groups of Taliban.

“An IED, you don’t know where it is from, who has initiated it, you don’t whether it is a booby trap, whether it’s a mine, it’s the not knowing of IEDs that is the key concern of people,” he said in a recent interview at Camp Bastion, the support headquarters of the British command in Afghanistan.

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Harpers War

Friendly Fire

Afghanistan

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'It's our duty': Hundreds gather to remember Newark firefighters killed in ship fire


Mike Kelly, NorthJersey.com
Updated Fri, July 14, 2023 

NEWARK, N.J. — Firefighters are helpers by nature. It prompts them to run into danger. It’s also the glue that holds them together in tough times.

And so, on a hot, windy Thursday in Newark, New Jersey, hundreds of firefighters — some traveling from as far away as California — gathered to help one another get through the first of two long goodbyes to two Newark firefighters who perished last week after they were trapped aboard a burning ship loaded with used cars bound for Africa.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Tim McGovern, a retired Newark battalion chief who drove from Toms River to pay tribute to firefighter Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45, who was overcome by smoke along with his colleague, firefighter Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr., while battling flames aboard the Grande Costa D'Avorio, a 692-foot cargo ship, on July 5.

“When something like that happens, you show up,” McGovern said. “It’s part of the job.”

Augusto’s nearly three-hour funeral at Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Thursday morning ended only a few hours before a wake for Brooks, whose funeral took place at the same church on Friday morning.

Timeline: Chief breaks down department's response to fatal Newark ship fire

Profound anguish

For firefighters, the loss of just one of their breed in the line of duty often sets off deep emotions about the ever-present dangers of the job that requires them to run into a fire instead of from it. But the loss of two firefighters in Newark seemed to set off especially widespread sorrow.

The anguish was even more profound because Acabou, 45, a 10-year veteran of the Newark Fire Department, and Brooks, 49, who served 16 years, were not rescuing people. They died trying to extinguish a blaze that broke out amid nearly 1,200 cars parked tightly together aboard a 12-story cargo ship that is nearly as long as two football fields.

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's Funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

“That’s what brings us together,” said Lt. Joseph Hoyle Sr., a 31-year veteran of the Englewood, New Jersey, fire department. “We understand our profession, and we understand the extreme risks. But to lose two firefighters to a car fire is especially difficult to live with.”

Hoyle said he hopes that the questions raised about the ship fire would result in some changes in how to battle shipboard fires, just as criticism of the firefighters’ response to a blaze in a truss roof at a car dealership in Hackensack, New Jersey, in July 1988 resulted in new firefighting standards across America.

One recommendation that Hoyle said he and other fire fighters would wholeheartedly support would be the establishment of specially trained fire brigades at America’s shipping ports.

“This will, without a doubt, cause a renewed focus on having a fire service especially at our ports,” Hoyle said of the fire.

In the wake of the deaths of Acabou and Brooks, firefighters have voiced criticism of Newark’s fire department for what they described as insufficient training and equipment to fight ship fires. Some of Newark's fire engines are staffed by only one officer and just two fire fighters. The optimum staffing of fire engines is one officer and four or five fire fighters. But many municipalities cuts budgets by trimming staffing levels.

In a larger sense, firefighters from across the region also questioned why nozzles on the cargo ship’s firefighting system were only one inch wide while the firefighters arrived with hoses with nozzles that were 2.5 inches wide.

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

The criticism also raised concerns about whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey should establish its own specially trained fire department for its 272-acre docking facility in Newark, the nation’s third-largest port. For decades, the Port Authority, which has specially trained fire fighting teams at its airports, has relied on Newark’s fire department, which is trained mainly to fight fires in home and offices, to respond to fires at its shipping ports.

Before Acabou’s funeral began, Sean DeCrane, director of health and safety operational services for the International Association of Firefighters, the nation’s largest firefighting union, said federal safety officials planned to examine the Newark port fire with an eye toward improving firefighting techniques. But DeCrane said in an interview with NorthJersey.com and The Record outside the cathedral basilica that the federal study could not begin until Newark’s fire department officially requested it.

On Thursday, Newark fire officials were unavailable for comment on this issue.

Mike Kelly: As Newark firefighters are laid to rest, these are the questions we must answer

More: Newark firefighters union blasts 'neglect' by city in wake of two deaths
A final farewell

Acabou’s funeral was a mix of tradition and heartfelt family memories.

In addition to English, scripture readings were recited in Acabou’s native language, Portuguese.

A large American flag hung from ladders between two firetrucks as Acabou’s coffin was brought to the cathedral basilica in an antique fire engine. A pipe band played the Irish funeral tune “Going Home” — a tradition at many fire department funerals across America. As a farewell, three fire chiefs rang a bell and a Newark fire dispatcher sent a final radio message to city fire fighters that Acabou had answered his last call.

Police on horses stood by. Hundreds of firefighters, clad in blue uniforms and white gloves, saluted. Color guards from fire brigades from across the region lowered their flags as Acabou's coffin, draped in an American flag, was carried into the cathedral basilica.

Inside, the ancient Roman Catholic hymn “Ave Maria” was sung. So was Leonard Cohen’s more modern pop classic, “Hallelujah.” And Acabou’s former football coach at Newark’s Eastside High School, Kevin Bullock, presented his jersey inscribed with the number 85 to his family. Bullock also said that Acabou devoted hours driving his former coach to doctors' appointments or just picking up groceries when he battled cancer.

"Augie would give his heart to anyone," Bullock said. "I said, 'Augie, you don't have to do this.' But that's what Augie did."

“To say that Augie Acabou was brave is an understatement,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in one of six eulogies that included an announcement by the city that Acabou would be promoted posthumously to the rank of captain.

Earlier: Newark firefighters killed in cargo ship fire remembered for dedication, selflessness

The same honor was bestowed Friday on Brooks during his funeral in a proclamation read by Newark Public afety Director Fritz Frage. And just as many who came to Acabou’s funeral had personal memories of him, the same was true of Brooks.

Bob LaCour, a retired Edison firefighter who worked with Brooks on an extra job on the runways at Newark Liberty International Airport, said in an interview that Brooks deeply wanted to help people in need.

“He was a friendly, helpful, jolly person,” LaCour said. “And he really wanted a career in the fire service. Firefighters are just helpful people by nature.”

LaCour said he was especially impressed by Brooks' desire to assist almost anyone. "There are people who take a job for benefits and people who aspire to help people," LaCour said. "Wayne wanted to help people."

Like the service for Acabou, Brooks' funeral brought together hundreds of fire fighters from across New Jersey, with some coming from as far away as Chicago. Brooks' memorial also included a stream of eulogies that praised him as a devoted father and friend. Many mourners wore blue to honor Brooks -- blue dresses for women and blue ties for men.

Jason Brooks spoke of his older brother as a "super hero" who loved to brag about his family's achievements, from graduating from college to the birth of a new baby.

"Let's brag about him even more than he would brag about us," said Jason Brooks, adding that "Wayne was always the type of person who takes the lead in solving a problem. He never complains. He just got things done. Nothing I could say could describe the void left by Wayne because he’s a connector.

"It may be a stretch to call Wayne a 'super hero,' but it's not a stretch to call him a super servant," said the Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries, a Baptist minister and noted civil rights leader in New Jersey.

Soaries said that Brooks "had the intellect" to take on any job he wanted but "he chose to become a super servant and now he's a super hero."

Brooks' wife, Michele, did not speak at the service. But a friend read an emotional letter from her.

"Wayne 'Bear' Brooks Jr., loved me in a way I always dreamed for," Michelle Brooks wrote. "You believed and saw the brighter side of things, always."

Captain Brett Hendrie of the New Rochelle, New York, fire department agreed that the instinct to be helpful also creates a unique bond of friendship and loyalty among firefighters. He said that’s why he drove from New Rochelle to Newark to attend the funeral of a man he did not know.

“When they talk about the brotherhood, it’s truly a real thing,” Hendrie said. “What Acabou and Brooks went through could happen to any firefighters. When one of us dies, it’s like a member of the family died.”

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

As a final eulogy, Acabou’s close friend and fellow Newark firefighter Eddie Paulo drew laughs when he mentioned that Acabou quit his amateur boxing career because “he felt bad for the guys he was hurting.”

“It’s a cliché to say that someone is the nicest guy in the world,” Paolo said. “But in Augie Acabou’s case, it was true.”

As he waited outside the cathedral basilica, Englewood firefighter Chandy Campbell, a 28-year veteran, drew quiet as he reflected on the possibility that every firefighter might someday face the same fate as Acabou and Brooks.

“Is it fair?” Campbell said. “No. But it’s our duty.”

As the funeral ended, Acabou’s coffin was driven away in the antique firetruck. The band played “America the Beautiful.”

Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, as well as the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books and a podcast and documentary film producer. To get unlimited access to his insightful thoughts on how we live life in the Northeast, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Port Newark fire: Hundreds honor Augie Acabou, Wayne Brooks