A group of eight Marines was injured when an Iranian missile struck a ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz, it has been revealed.
Details of the Sept. 14 attack have not been publicly disclosed by the U.S. government, with the eight injuries not appearing on the Pentagon’s public database for several days.
Officials have now told NBC News that the Marines were not seriously hurt in the attack but did suffer smoke inhalation and displayed symptoms of concussions, such as headaches, suggesting possible traumatic head injuries. The Pentagon itself has not commented.
All eight Marines—one officer and seven enlisted—returned to active duty soon after the attack in the shipping route.
The officials told NBC News that the Marines were operating as part of a battalion landing team when the Iranian missile struck them. The Marines were not on a U.S. Navy ship, but the official did not disclose what the struck ship was, referring to it only as a maritime vessel.
Last week, the Pentagon’s public tally of wounded troops, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS), quietly added 29 Navy sailors and the eight Marines without explanation. The addition of the eight Marines came nearly 10 days after the attack took place.
A Navy official previously told the Daily Beast: “Consistent with the Department of War policy and out of respect for the privacy of our service members and their families, the specific identities and units of the affected 29 Sailors will not be released but have returned to duty status.”
A U.S. official told NBC News that the Pentagon often lags in listing troops’ injuries because their symptoms are not always reported immediately, and the DCAS system does not update in real time.
The 37 additional wounded brought the total number of service members injured during the war in Iran to 861. The DCAS does not explain how any of the troops were injured.
The number of U.S. service members who have died during the deeply unpopular war in Iran has risen to 19. The latest confirmed fatality, Capt. Bianca Wilkerson, 37, of Norfolk, Virginia, died on Sept. 18 “as a result of a non-combat-related incident” and was posthumously promoted to major, the U.S. Army said.
Sources previously told The Washington Post that the true U.S. service members’ death toll from the Iran war stands at 22, with one U.S. official putting the tally at 23.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command for comment.
