This Stars & Stripes piece is the most granular report on the missing US soldiers in Lithuania. Clears away a lot of the confusing and garbled things that have shown up in mainstream press reports. ...https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2025-03-27/army-soldiers-search-lithuania-17275483.html - ThreadSky

joshtpm.bsky.social • 43 days ago

This Stars & Stripes piece is the most granular report on the missing US soldiers in Lithuania. Clears away a lot of the confusing and garbled things that have shown up in mainstream press reports. ...https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2025-03-27/army-soldiers-search-lithuania-17275483.html

Comments

bearforpunishment.bsky.social•43 days ago

A lot of the coverage felt clickbait-y, as if the reporting outlets were deliberately trying to suggest these soldiers may have been murdered, and sitting on any information to the contrary, and that is just fuckin' gross to do.

olddragoon.bsky.social•43 days ago

Old tanker here. Taking a wrong turn into a river, lake or canal is a nightmare. RIP soldiers.

boboinparadise.bsky.social•43 days ago

This is a bit similar to the Marines amphib sinking, which was also a tragic mess. Opening windows and doors, egress, shedding gear, is what has to happen instantly but may be counter intuitive, depending on training. Ntm, life preserver is nonstd tank equipment.

marie-atl.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thank you for posting this. My sincere thoughts and prayers are for the families and loved ones of the soldiers.

autumnleaf13.bsky.social•40 days ago

💔🙏🥺

ronm88.bsky.social•43 days ago

What confused me was that half the reporting I read said “killed in Lithuania”, while others said “died in Lithuania”. To me there are huge differences as the connotation of killed to me implies murder as opposed to died in a tragic accident.

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

2/ But it sounds, though they don't say it directly, that they found the vehicle in what is more like a bog than a pond and it's an extremely heavy vehicle start to with & they r having trouble extracting it from the mud. I assume the issue is that it's hard to use machinery to pull the vehicle ...

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

3/ out without the rescue stuff itself sinking into the mud. They don't say that they have been able to get into the vehicle yet. So I assume that the assumption is that the soldiers are dead in the submerged vehicle but they don't want to say that until they're totally sure, and understandably...

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

4/ so. But that probably explains the confused messages about whether the four soldiers are dead or not. In any case, that part is my supposition. But read the piece. It's the only granular and detailed report I've seen to date and clears away a little of the seeming weirdness and unclarity.

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

5/ link is broken in first tweet. Here's the link https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2025-03-27/army-soldiers-search-lithuania-17275483.html

69cletus.bsky.social•43 days ago

Those poor soldiers….

brendanamartin.bsky.social•43 days ago

Here’s the Lithuanian coverage from earlier this morning. They haven’t been able recover the vehicle or even confirm the bodies are inside yet. The confused reporting, plus Trump’s professed ignorance, made this initially seem
suspicious.

https://bsky.app/profile/brendanamartin.bsky.social/post/3llehbkdbec2e

humuhumu.bsky.social•43 days ago

📌

pfalcon.bsky.social•43 days ago

🥺💔 ~ heart breaking

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

6/ One additional point. I think this is a case in which if you had a competent and functioning office of the Secretary of Defense they would have been more on top of the story and communicated formally and informally to press the likely reality of the situation and also the reticence about ...

booklady127.bsky.social•43 days ago

The poor families

joshtpm.bsky.social•43 days ago

7/ making any declarations about the fate of the soldiers. But the situation on the ground in Lithuania seems pretty clear based on this S&S reporting. They've clearly mobilized a big search and rescue operation with lots of people and resources.

buckyrea.bsky.social•43 days ago

Right. You have to have a space, not a period, before the H in the http

tonezib.bsky.social•43 days ago

Should we forward the article to the Commander and Chief 🙄

mumon.bsky.social•43 days ago

It's kind of like the military equipment version of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." If they use another M88 recovery vehicle to recover the M88 recovery vehicle, I'd bet it'd be sunk in the bog too.

dfourny.bsky.social•43 days ago

Awful

talentedripley.bsky.social•42 days ago

Thank you 🙏 😕

jscram3254.bsky.social•43 days ago

This reporting does put to rest my worry that Belarus did something stupid given the proximity to the border.

blueskyed.bsky.social•43 days ago

6 miles from Belarus border. This area is famous for its swamps, just like the whole of Belarus. When I saw the reports, that was my first thought: swamp plus heavy tank is bad combination. 🙁

tbrunner.bsky.social•43 days ago

i'm fond of this one. the location is fort hunter liggett, in monterey county, california -- both close to home, and the location where my dad did some work on the rotary-wing vs armor problem.

tonezib.bsky.social•43 days ago

Very sad situation.
When my family lived in Korea and not on a military base, the Stars and Stripes was golden.
We only had US TV shows x amt of time a day. You haven't lived until you've seen Hoss jump off his horse and speak Korean. 😄

waitmanwbeorn.com•43 days ago

It's an M88 recovery vehicle which is the heaviest armored vehicle we have. If the crew didn't drown inside the vehicle, it's most likely that they died outside of it.

It's a sad thing that happens and shows how dangerous being in the Army is even in peacetime.

betsida.bsky.social•43 days ago

How fast will it fill with water?

waitmanwbeorn.com•43 days ago

Pretty fast if the hatches were open (which they probably were.)

thebeallcurve.bsky.social•43 days ago

Training for war is no joke until you put a bunch of wannabes in charge. Does Pete have anything to say? Interview? You might end up on the next Signal war party chat

gwpda.bsky.social•43 days ago

The whole purpose of the Stars & Stripes is accurate journalism concentrating on military affairs. Say, thank you, Stars & Stripes!

thedetroitdiva.bsky.social•43 days ago

Second that and I'd add they have a Blue Sky account here if others would also like to follow them for the excellent coverage of all things U.S.-military related

@starsandstripes.bsky.social

homola1950.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thank for posting the link to Stars and Stripes. My father was retired Army and I grew up on it

buckyrea.bsky.social•43 days ago

I wonder how long until Stars and Stripes gets MAGAified

thedetroitdiva.bsky.social•43 days ago

I've been reading them for years, so I'm skeptical that will happen. Can never rule it out of course, but Donnie's vigorous attacks on veterans and the military itself (a DUI hire...seriously?) seem to me to make that unlikely

doa70.bsky.social•43 days ago

I hope like hell you are right D Diva. I’m not counting on it though. I’ve seen too many in the military swigging the koolaide like an alcoholic on a bender.

gwpda.bsky.social•43 days ago

It's been being tried forever. They stil stand!

smartmove.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thank you DD,
I appreciate you letting us know. Just started following it.

doctorcrispin.bsky.social•43 days ago

They were "on a maintenance mission to recover another U.S. Army vehicle." This is like the plot of a horror movie, one victim after another lost in the bog.

cogenteur.bsky.social•43 days ago

🎵"Knee Deep in the Big Muddy ..."🎵

doa70.bsky.social•43 days ago

https://youtu.be/BjTO0231nM0?si=FFs45QAuYIj1mkt5

margot44.bsky.social•43 days ago

Such a difficult time for their families. Heartbreaking for all involved. 💔

rockwils1.bsky.social•43 days ago

kid-rio.bsky.social•43 days ago

The marshy areas of that part of East Central Europe (most of it) are *filled* with abandoned AFVs. German crews of heavy vehicles had a rule: if your boot heel sinks more than two inches into the soil with another crewman on your back, do NOT drive forward.

gordonschneider.bsky.social•43 days ago

It’s really hard for me to imagine an area of Europe so marshy that a vehicle could be lost that way. A pretty scary way to die.

ljweisenbach.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thanks for sharing @joshtpm.bsky.social
Seems the media (once again) knows more than the President of the United States.

drinkhat.bsky.social•43 days ago

Wait you mean it wasn’t Russia? Are the libs okay?

silvermercury.bsky.social•43 days ago

Fuck off.

advanzetti.bsky.social•43 days ago

Four soldiers are likely dead. It's not an occasion to make partisan jokes.

cartologist.bsky.social•43 days ago

Go fuck yourself.

incipits.bsky.social•43 days ago

Have some more beer

drinkhat.bsky.social•42 days ago

You don’t know what I have in my drink hat

incipits.bsky.social•42 days ago

Does it matter? Drunks don't discriminate - they'll drink mouth wash if they have no other options

peptopotemkin.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thank you for your journalism.

henryhill1.bsky.social•43 days ago

So, I'm guessing 4 no DEI white guys (or we'd have more info on the predicament), drove one of these into a bog and it sank, when it appears the route was that nice high dry concrete and iron foundation next to the bog.

henryhill1.bsky.social•43 days ago

*non

henryhill1.bsky.social•43 days ago

Next week: Defunding Stars And Stripes.

wfulford.bsky.social•43 days ago

This seems like a big story why is MSM avoiding it?

knowvak.bsky.social•43 days ago

My bet is they want to be able to report whether they're dead or not.

josephcappadonia.bsky.social•43 days ago

Recovery of AFVs is difficult.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply