The Pentagon's Secret Revealed: 8 Marines Wounded by Iranian Missile | Report

Eight American Marines were wounded on September 14 by an Iranian anti-ship cruise missile in the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not report the attack in real time, and the casualties were recorded in the Pentagon's official database (DCAS) only ten days later. The Marines, one officer and seven enlisted personnel from a Battalion Landing Team, suffered from smoke inhalation and suspected traumatic brain injuries, including severe headaches, and returned to operational activity shortly afterward. The identity of the vessel struck remains unknown; three U.S. officials told NBC News that it was not a U.S. Navy warship but a maritime vessel, without confirming whether it was a chartered civilian vessel. Two days later, another Iranian attack was reported using four drones and an anti-ship missile against a vessel operating under a U.S. contract in the area, but there is no official confirmation that it is the same incident. A security official explained that the delay in recording is not unusual, as symptoms of head injuries sometimes appear retrospectively. The case joins a Washington Post report on a sudden update of 37 wounded in one week. The Pentagon database now lists 861 military personnel wounded in the confrontation with Iran, up from 756 wounded and 18 killed in August.