Roadside bomb in Afghanistan kills 4 Ind. National Guardsmen

[Rhiannon12866]

Source: USA Today

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Four soldiers with an Indiana-based National Guard unit were killed in Afghanistan and a fifth was injured when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb as they were working to clear a supply route of the improvised bombs, guard officials said Saturday.

Indiana Adjutant General Martin Umbarger said the four members of the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineer Company died Thursday morning in southern Afghanistan. He said all of the men were combat engineers who specialized in clearing major supply routes.

The blast occurred as their vehicle traveled along a road, scouting for signs of roadside bombs and other potential problems convoys might encounter as the move supplies in the decade-long war in Afghanistan, Umbarger said.

"Their mission is to keep the major supply routes clear of all obstacles for the convoys. And what that means is they're the first ones to go out to make sure the route can be used, so it's a very important mission — but it's also extremely dangerous," he told The Associated Press.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2012-01-07/indiana-national-guardsmen-killed/52437304/1

[No Elephants]

1. Awful.

[KoKo]

2. On and On..it goes and where it stops...nobody knows.

:-(

[me b zola]

3. Why are we still there?

Why were we ever there? Its past time to put the lie(s) to bed and bring our troops home.