Listen up.
The primary sight on an M-1 tank is a thermal sight.
The tank in question was approacking an area that had just been attacked by some sort of artillery (mortar, rpg, grenade), they didn't know what kind yet.
From the gunners point of view a man holding a camera on his shoulder and a man holding an RPG on his shoulder look identicle.
The gunner would have yelled "target".
The commander would have identified the target, in this case incorrectly, but given that he was looking through periscopes at someone a couple hundred meteres away in 100+ degree heat, and had a fraction of a second to appraise the situation, maybe we can cut him some slack. "Gunner battlesight troops"
Gunner: "Identified"
Commander: "Fire"
Gunner: "On the way."
The entire proess would have taken about 1.5 seconds from the gunner first sighting him.
Combat zones are dangerous places. Reporters know that. This was a tragic accident. The other tradgedy is that some people wish to use it to further their own agendas...
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Fortunato became immured to the sound of the trowel after a while.
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