Fatal Motorcycle Accident Mexico
STEVE MRAZ AND SETH ROBBINS AND STRIPES STARS Published June 2, 2009.
Baumholder, Germany Three soldiers based in Baumholder killed in an accident early Sunday morning on a highway north of Kaiserslautern had recently returned from Iraq BELIVE German police the accident could have involved alcohol a worrying problem for those responsible for army concerned about the welfare of soldiers returning from war zones.
The doctor who performed first aid said he smelled of alcohol, said Ivonne Bungert, a German police officer Autobahn.
Two other soldiers were injured in the accident, and all five were assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which was held ceremonies in recent weeks to welcome home troops following deployment of 15 months.
About 12 percent of active duty soldiers report problems related to alcohol in a review of revaluation of post-deployment health, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the soldiers set warning against the dangers of substance abuse as they return from downrange.
These warnings are given during the soldiers reintegration program, a series of seven days of briefings to prepare soldiers for life after combat deployments.
Four of the soldiers involved, assigned to the 47th Support Battalion before, had arrived at the base last week and were still in the process of reintegration, said Bianca Bowen, director of plans, training, mobilization and security in Baumholder.
They were educated on the dangers of drug and drunken driving just two days before the accident, she said.
The five male soldiers moved to Kaiserslautern early Sunday morning in a rented station wagon Audi when the car drove on the side of Highway 63, causing the vehicle to flip and eject everyone, Bungert said Time exact of the accident is unknown, but the soldiers were discovered by a German fighter around 7 am, she said.
I do not know how long they were there before they were found, she said it was an accident very, very bad.
The five soldiers involved in the collision range between 22 and 29, Bungert said the driver aged 29 was seriously injured survivors are treated in German hospitals Mainz and Ludwigshafen, Bungert said.
The names of the deceased were withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The accident took place off the southbound lanes of 63 Autobahn near llheim G, which is between Mainz and Kaiserslautern Police believe the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
A photo of the German autobahn Police shows an overview chalk Traces of tires gradually veering off the autobahn and brush roadside A guard begins just after the point the vehicle left the road, photos police show once the vehicle left the road, he drove through the brush and hit the entrance of a tunnel built for pedestrians to cross under the highway, Bungert said.
During the reintegration process, the soldiers are not forbidden to drink alcohol, or kept driving their cars if they have a valid license and vehicles subject to inspection.
They were gone so long, you can t tell them they can t drink and they are adults, Bowen said once they are out of this building, we do not control.
During the session given this week in Baumholder reintegration information, the soldiers presented a slide that shows the number of incidents related to alcohol increased for soldiers returning home from combat zones said a slide that since 11 September 2001, the army had 7 percent increase in problem drinkers, according to the rehabilitation unit inventory survey data risks.
It is a very full, Bowen said, and this is the first tragic accident that I remember in my three years as part of rehabilitation.
Most of the soldiers, however, prefer to soak in downtown Baumholder where they can walk to the bars, said Bowen, and several patrols can pick them out there and return to base.
She said she thought that the soldiers involved in the accident were returning from a concert to undergo dental examinations afternoon as part of rehabilitation.
It is an unfortunate thing, she said that we feel for their families.
Several soldiers gathered outside the headquarters of the FSB 47th Monday afternoon.
People have a difficult time with him, said an officer who asked not to be named because they were asked not to talk about the incident until family members were informed It is one of those things that should not have happened.
Units of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team began deploying Baumholder in early 2008, most in May, 12 soldiers lost during deployment.
We are starting to cry, said a 47th BSF soldier deployed with men killed in the crash Nobody thinks something like that will happen when you come back it's like to lose your family.
Workers raise an Audi station wagon on a tow truck after a fatal accident on Autobahn 63 near Kaiserslautern U S Three soldiers assigned to Baumholder, Germany, were killed in Sunday morning accident PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GERMAN POLICE.
Three soldiers died Baumholder two injured in the accident autobahn News, Baumholder soldiers autobahn accident.