Tarnak Farms - April 17, 2002 Friendly Fire Incident

April 17, 2002 Friendly Fire Incident

On April 17, 2002, four Canadian soldiers of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were killed at this site while conducting a night time live-fire training exercise. Two passing American F-16s piloted by U.S. Air National Guard Majors Harry Schmidt and William Umbach had mistaken the machine gun and anti-tank weapons flashes of the exercise for enemy fire and dropped a 227-kilogram (500 lb) Mark 82 laser-guided bomb on the Canadian position, despite orders to await confirmation.

The bomb killed Canadian Forces Sgt Marc Leger, Cpl Ainsworth Dyer, Pte Richard Green and Pte Nathan Lloyd Smith and wounded eight other CF soldiers.

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