Brian and Alma Hart of Bedford are the parents of Army Pfc. John Hart, 20, who died when his patrol was ambushed Oct. 18 in Iraq.
Hart was manning the machine gun in the third Humvee of a group of three when the vehicles came under attack. The first two Humvees escaped as Hart shot at their attackers, but Hart was shot several times and died, his parent's said. His lieutenant, in the same Humvee, also died after bleeding to death.
Before Hart's death, his parents heard hints of concern from their son about the lack of body and vehicle armor in Iraq. When John Hart died, his parents said it became obvious this was more than a small concern. And now, as more soldiers die and the Harts hear the stories of those who survived, they have vowed to do something about it.
"John called us the week before he died and said he was very concerned because they were not equipped for the missions they were being sent out on," Brian Hart said. "A lot of his friends had been shot, blown up in unarmored Humvees. John was issued second-hand body armor to wear."
Brian Hart's biggest problem with the safety of the soldiers is the lack of unarmored Humvees in Iraq. When the Harts went to Arlington National Cemetery to bury John, they met with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, about the problem. Hart said Kennedy agreed that something needs to be done.
"I asked him to check into two issues," Hart said. "The lack of armored vests and unarmored Humvees."
Hart said he asked two soldiers who were at the funeral what they needed in Iraq the most, and they said up-armored Humvees - Humvees with armor that protects soldiers from bullets and grenades.
"I promised that I would look into it and see what I could do to help," Hart said. "They were John's buddies; they were there when he died."
At a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee in mid-November, senators questioned Army officials regarding the soldiers' lack of protection, including the need for helicopters equipped with new missile alert systems.
After Kennedy called the Harts to tell them about the meeting, it became clear the battle would be an uphill one.
The Scripps Howard News Service reported an estimated 10,000 of the Army's 100,000 Humvees are in Iraq. No more than 2,000 of those are armored, according to defense industry analyst Michael Hoffman of Friedman Billings Ramsey in Arlington, Va. Therefore, four out of five Humvees in Iraq are not armored.
Hart said the Army has requested roughly 3,500 Humvees be made and sent to Iraq, up from a previous request of 1,700.
"The problem is that, based, on current production, that will take almost two years to produce," Hart said. "That's ridiculous."
Hart said that 50,000 commercial Humvees will be produced next year for use. General Motors, he said, produced 376 in October alone.
"So in the meantime, almost every day, we are experiencing casualties," Hart said. "Something is really wrong. We have a $100,000 tax deduction available to small businesses and self employed individuals to purchase SUVs over 6,000 pounds. So as a result, we have yellow Humvees being purchased by dentists at taxpayer expense and we have no adequate supply of armored Humvees."
On Nov. 21, Hart spoke to legislative representatives in Kennedy's office who told him there are issues of money, production levels, and bureaucracy that are making this a difficult process.
"Everyone wants the problem solved; now it is a question of how it will get done," Hart said. "It seems reasonable that 3,500 Humvees could be available within six months or less if the production were put on a wartime footing. Are we at war?"
A representative from Kennedy's office said the manufacturer of the up-armored Humvees is a company in Ohio called Ogara-Hess & Eisenhardt Their maximum production capacity is 220 Humvees a month. In fiscal 2003, Congress did not give the Army enough money to buy the maximum number of Humvees the manufacturer could produce. This May, however, the company will produce them at maximum capacity - yielding the requested number of Humvees by July of 2005.
Armored Humvees give soldiers armored crew compartments, two-inch thick bulletproof windows, a roof gun turret, gun shields, and upgraded suspensions. Scripps Howard said Armored Humvees are capable of withstanding a 12-pound bomb blast under the front section and a four-pound explosive under the rear. On Nov. 19, ABC News reported that Kennedy told the Armed Services Committee that the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, had assured him in a recent letter that soldiers wouldn't be put in harm's way without proper equipment. ABC News quoted Kennedy, "It is inconceivable with our manufacturing capability that we cannot produce that kind of a vehicle more rapidly and replace it." Kennedy's representative said the Army is testing a product that could help the problem - Humvee kits which include armored plates that can be bolted to the Humvees. Soldiers can get more protection faster by using the kits, although the representative was not briefed on the outcome of the tests. Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, has also been active in pushing for more protection, as three Rhode Island National Guardsmen were killed in Iraq in September. Three were from Massachusetts. Reed and Kennedy have been working together since then to get more money for protection and a better time frame. "It's difficult to believe that planning for the war failed to anticipate the need for better protective vests and more effective armor on Humvees," Kennedy said. "No soldier or Marine should have to serve in Iraq without it." Kennedy's representative said the senator is not satisfied with the goal of July 2005. But it is hard to say if the production will be sped up. Kennedy has been talking with and visiting soldiers in New England and elsewhere to find out what they need.
According to the representative, the problem regarding the lack of body armor will be solved by the end of this month. Every American soldier, government employee and contractor in Iraq should have new metal armor plates by the end of December.
Hart said while troops wait for more armor, they are taping sandbags to the Humvees to protect themselves from grenade attacks and bullets. Kennedy's representative said soldiers can tape sandbags everywhere except under the accelerator. Because of this, drivers' legs are sometimes seriously injured.
"This is a real big problem because the military miscalculated," Hart said. "They didn't know we would have a guerilla war. Essentially, troops are being ambushed in unarmored vehicles. We are seeing casualties occur without real gain."
Hart argues that with all the manufacturing capacity of this country, the armored Humvees should be able to be made much faster.
"The country is not being told we have a problem," Hart said. "Hence, there is no national effort to get these troops what they need. We have local dentists buying Hummers to take their kids to soccer games, but our troops can't get armored Humvees for several years. Thirty of the last 100 casualties have been from unarmored Humvees." Kennedy's representative said the Army has its own internal bureaucracy battle, and it took them a while to figure out they had a problem. A lot of the time, she said, political pressure does help get things done.
In the meantime, Hart continues to uphold his promise to the soldiers and do all he can to help. He collects all the information he can about what is happening to be as knowledgeable as possible.
"I couldn't be happier with the efforts Kennedy has taken to address this issue," Hart said. "Civilian production needs to take a second importance to a military need in a time of war."