Report: US Marines Injured by Iranian Attack on Ship in the Strait of Hormuz

Dozens of US navy sailors were also quietly added to the Pentagon’s casualty list this month

NBC News reported on Sunday night that eight US Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian missile hit a ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz.

The report, which cited unnamed US officials, said the Marines sustained smoke inhalation and potentially traumatic brain injuries, as they had symptoms of concussions, and that they were back on duty soon after the September 14 attack.

The officials speaking to NBC said the Marines were not on a US Navy ship when they were hit, and they wouldn’t specify what kind of ship it was, describing it only as a maritime vessel. There’s been speculation that US military personnel may be traveling aboard commercial vessels that the US is helping guide out of the strait.

But there are signs that a US Navy ship may also have been hit this month, as the Pentagon quietly acknowledged that 29 US Navy sailors were injured this month by adding them to its casualty database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System.

Throughout the Iran war, the Pentagon has consistently downplayed casualties, and according to a recent report from The Washington Post, it has not reported all of the US military deaths in the region since the conflict began.

According to the official Pentagon numbers, at least 19 US troops have been killed by Iranian attacks or died of other causes during the war, and 861 have been wounded. The Post report put the number of deaths of US service members at up to 23, though it said not all undisclosed deaths were directly tied to the conflict, and it also said that three civilian contractors have also died.

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.