and both aircrewmen were rescued.
I read we have flown over 13,000 sorties and so far lost six airplanes and no crewmen. Three were casualties of friendly fire on the part of the Kuwaitis. The tanker was involved in a mid air accident with another airplane that got down safely.
The other day we lost an F15E and an A-10 Warthog.
Iran claims they shot both down, we attribute the F15E to engine failure. Pretty much the same hold true for the warthog. No telling.
What is astonishing is that we have suffered so few casualties since the fighting has started. Our guys, from the janitor that sweeps the floor at the airplane factory to the flyboys in the aircraft are really quite amazing.
We can cram more death and destruction in a small jet than we could have in a B-24 and they can strike and get back to base a lot safer.
In 1943 we lost 60 aircraft with another 17 sent to the bone yard along with over 650 aviators on a single mission to bomb a ball bearing plant.
When you put it in that context it's amazing how light our casualties actually are.
Before you jump up and down, a single casualty is a tragedy. I'm just pointing out that casualties are far lower than expected so far.
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