File under "Not Funny"

Soldier shot in Iraq - Armor a joke:

Revelations that a British soldier had to hand back his
body armor shortly before he was killed in Iraq has prompted calls for
Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon to quit. Sergeant Steve Roberts, 33, was
shot in the chest and killed in an attack in Iraq last March. His widow
Samantha revealed Thursday that he left an audio diary in which he
called supplies to soldiers a 'joke.'
[...]
A pathologist's report found that the bullet would have been stopped by
a specialist body vest, which had ceramic plates to cover the heart and
aorta. Roberts had been ordered to give up the vest to a soldier deemed
more at risk, and he was left with standard armor.
Mrs. Roberts, 32, has called for Hoon to resign over the affair. "It's
only by the luck of the gods that more men have not died through a lack
of equipment," she told The Associated Press.
[...]
A transcript of the [audio] tapes was published in the Yorkshire
Evening Post on Wednesday. On one of them he said: "We are now back
into one of the camps to up-armor, which again is a bit of a joke in
itself because they are running out of the frontal armor. "It will be
interesting to see what armor I actually get. I will keep you posted,"
he added. Sgt. Roberts's final words to his wife were: "I love you
lots. Sleep tight, babe. Bye."

Posted by flow Frazao on January 15, 2004 at 06:26 PM | Permalink