Politics

Secret Details of Even More Wounded Americans Leak

EVACUATION FLIGHT

A drone attack injured at least two service members who were part of another evacuation flight to Germany on Thursday.

Donald Trump
Nathan Howard/REUTERS

Another U.S. military evacuation flight from Saudi Arabia arrived in Germany on Thursday, this one carrying about 19 injured service members, including two hurt during a drone attack.

The flight, which CBS News Senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs reported, occurred two days after a group of about 20 injured military members arrived at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany via a C-17 aircraft.

The flight departed from Saudi Arabia, made a stop in Oman, and landed at a U.S. base in Germany close to a military hospital, according to the CBS report. On board were two military members injured “when a drone exploded next to their vehicle,” according to CBS News.

As of Tuesday night, about 25 in total were at Landstuhl, 12 were at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, and one at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Those casualties were the result of a drone attack in Kuwait that killed six U.S. service members on the first day of the war.

In the first week of Trump’s Iran war, the Pentagon spent about $11.3 billion.
In the first week of Trump’s Iran war, the Pentagon spent about $11.3 billion. Evan Vucci/REUTERS

Sources told CBS News that dozens had suffered traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, and other “urgent” conditions.

Landstuhl declined to comment to CBS on Thursday’s evacuation.

Another evacuation flight of injured service members arrived in Germany on Thursday, according to CBS.
Another evacuation flight of injured service members arrived in Germany on Thursday, according to CBS. X/JenniferJJacobs

It’s unclear when or where the drone attack referenced on Thursday occurred, and how many others may have been injured. It’s also not currently known if the injuries were included in the Pentagon’s Tuesday tally of about 140 service members injured in the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran.

Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell said that “the vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty.”

The Pentagon referred a request for comment to CENTCOM, which did not immediately respond. The Daily Beast has also reached out to the White House.

In addition to the dozens of injuries, the war’s U.S. death toll stands at seven. Its cost—for just the first week—came in at an estimated $11.3 billion, the Pentagon briefed Congress. The two-week mark of the war, which the White House has been selling through NFL and bowling highlights, will come on Saturday.

The national average price of a gallon of gasoline, meanwhile, has shot up from under $3 to $3.60.

Donald Trump responded to the simultaneous rise in oil prices to about $100 per barrel by claiming that it’s a good thing because the U.S. will “make a lot of money.”