Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Historical Look At Five U.S. Generals Killed By Hostile Forces

Maj Gen Dillard, Maj Gen Greene, Gen Sedgwick

Five US Generals Killed In Action -- Annie Waldman, BBC

Maj Gen Harold Greene, killed by an Afghan soldier in an insider attack, follows a long line of US generals killed in war. And their deaths say much about the changing nature of warfare.

In the past decade, thousands of American soldiers have lost their lives to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet news this week of Maj Gen Harold Greene's death made headlines.

Gen Greene is not only the highest ranking US military official to have been killed since the start of the war in Afghanistan, his death also marks the first time in more than 40 years that a general has been killed in combat.

Although it's now a rare occurrence, before modern technology and tactics, the deaths of senior officers were far more common.

Read more ....

My Comment: It should be noted that in past conflicts the U.S. has targeted Generals on the opposite side .... the most celebrated one being the assassination of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during World War II.

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