He is saying that it is tautological because the fact that they were killed establishes that they were doing something dangerous, so for the headline to say that they were doing something dangerous gives us no additional information. So I think it is a correct use of the word. (Now, one could phrase the headline differently such as: Marines Killed While Doing Job Known to be Dangerous... and that would not be tautological because that would actually be telling us something that we would not know from the mere fact that they were killed.)
Not really. People are killed not doing dangerous things. Just because someone is killed does not automatically characterize their activities at the time. If you were hit my a falling airplane while gardening doesn’t mean you were doing something dangerous.
Spot on. Term was used correctly.
Thank you. Well stated.
If we say, "3 Marines killed in truck accident at base," does that automatically make riding in a truck a dangerous job?
Or, if we were to say "7 Marines killed in midair helicopter crash," does that make flying in an helicopter a dangerous job?