Iran Strike Survivors Allege US Military Medical Failures

A March 1 Iranian drone strike at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, killed six U.S. troops on the second day of the war with Iran. Nine wounded service members spoke on the record to the Associated Press, which interviewed 13 soldiers overall. After the blast, soldiers used tourniquets and first aid on each other and searched Google for a hospital in Kuwait City. Some wounded were sent to homes of U.S. government employees amid risky evacuation conditions. Ten days later they were flown to Germany on a cargo plane, seated on the floor with straps. Arturo Lincón, Stephen Ramsbottom and Rodney Bearman said care fell short: Lincón, about seven feet from the blast, carried Kuwait records on a CD to Landstuhl after feeling on his own; Ramsbottom waited over four months for MRI results and said he had to build his own case; Bearman said a coding error blocked combat-wounded documentation and hospitalization, breaking a sacred trust. The Pentagon said all wounded troops were evaluated to health industry standards. The Army finished its investigation in June but has not released it and declined comment until families are briefed. Tina Marzan, whose husband was killed, said relatives have the right to know what really happened.