# US casualties during Desert Storm **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2001, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156 "2001-10-03T09:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/1 "2001-10-03T09:41:15Z")
How many US troops were killed by the enemy during Desert Storm? I had heard of quite a few killed by friendly fire, I believe there was even a movie about it. But is it possible that zero US troops were killed by the Iraqis? ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/2 "2001-10-03T10:00:22Z")
Zero? I don’t think it was friendly fire when that SCUD landed on a base toward the end. ---
**Author:** ![AndyJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@AndyJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyJ)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/3 "2001-10-03T10:46:19Z")
Quite a few British troops were killed by American friendly fire. ---
**Author:** ![AndyJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@AndyJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyJ)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/4 "2001-10-03T11:00:54Z")
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**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/5 "2001-10-03T15:01:43Z")
I seem to recall the number “98” coming up in association with U.S. casulties. I was a medic in a MASH unit during the Gulf War, set up in the occupied portion of Iraq. About the only U.S. casulty that I recall was a female soldier who came in DOA with her entire lower body blown off. The first story we heard was that she stepped on a mine while leaving the convoy to use the bathroom. The second story we heard was that she collected a “neat souvenir” from the desert and placed it on the floorboard of her HumVee. One guy fell off his Bradley and broke his wrist. That was about it. Of course, we had quite a few Iraqi POW’s under our care. We treated many for exposure, dehydration, and malnutrition. ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/6 "2001-10-03T15:05:17Z")
yes as usual the utterly incompetent Americans killed friendly soldiers including their own. too trigger happy you americans you know. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/7 "2001-10-03T16:43:31Z")
Yes, and I suppose that no other military forces have ever had any “friendly fire” incidents in any war ever fought in the history of the world. I don’t know where you’re from, Niobium, but your nation’s military probably received a substantial amount of training and equipment from “the utterly incompetent Americans”. Your comments belong in the Pit, not on a thread that was asking for an answer to a specific question. Your punctuation and writing style belong in a remedial writing class. To answer the OP, with the exception of the one Scud missile attack that hit an Army barracks and killed over 100 American soldiers, there were more sports injuries among the American forces before the ground offensive started than there were combat fatalities during the course of the war. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/8 "2001-10-03T17:01:40Z")
The Pentagon revealed that 24% of the 148 combat deaths in the Gulf War were a result of friendly fire. A further 11% were killed when an Allied munitions dump exploded. That means that **102** deaths can be attributed to enemy forces. The 24%/11% figures can be verified in any number of places. Pop “Gulf War” and “friendly fire” into your favorite search engine. Niobium Knight - take it to the pit, troll. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/9 "2001-10-03T18:09:27Z")
148 according to my almanac as well. In fact, the US had roughly 465 combat fatalities since Vietnam. Desert Storm had the second-highest, after the 200+ killed in Lebanon. Think of it: fewer than 500 combat deaths in 25 years. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-casualties-during-desert-storm/85156/10 "2001-10-03T18:25:17Z")
A word on friendly fire: Approximately 100,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed, 300,000 wounded in the Gulf War. It seems likely that not more than 1,000 Coalition soldiers were killed or wounded by friendly fire. If you were to pretend that every weapon fired in that war hit and killed or wounded someone, enemy or friendly, then the percentage of friendly fire hits would be about 0.25%. In reality, that percentage was far, far lower. If you accept the figures offered in [this table](http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004615.html), it appears as if it was _safer_ to be a participant in the Gulf War than it was to be in the U.S. armed services elsewhere at the same time. Roughly half of all U.S. servicemembers were deployed to the Gulf. A total of 387 U.S. servicemembers died in that theater, of all causes. In the same time period, 914 U.S. servicemembers died _outside_ of the Gulf theater of all causes.