Two sailors died of their injuries hours after being burned by bursts of steam aboard the USS Iwo Jima, boosting the number of men killed in the accident aboard the ship to 10. Chief Petty Officer Robert Haagenson of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said today the two men died ``very late last night (Tuesday) as a result of their injuries.'' Six sailors died immediately when the pipe ruptured Tuesday morning. Four with severe burns were flown by helicopter to the hospital ships USS Comfort, one of two such vessels in the Persian Gulf. All four died. Also Tuesday, a Marine was killed in Saudi Arabia when the jeep he was riding in went down an 20-foot embankment. He was identified as 1st Lt. Michael N. Monroe, 27, of Auburn, Wash. Tuesday's fatalities brought to 43 the number of American servicemen killed during Operation Desert Shield, the U.S. military effort launched after Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2. Haagenson said a memorial service will be held Thursday aboard the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima for the 10 dead crew members. Killed in the Iwo Jima accident were David A. Gilliland, 21, Warrensburg, Mo.; Mark E. Hutchison, 27, Elkins, W. Va.; Daniel Lupatsky, 22, Centralia, Pa.; Daniel C. McKinsey, 21, Hanover, Pa.; Fred R. Parker Jr., 24, Reidsville, N.C.; James A. Smith Jr., 22, Somerville, Tenn.; John M. Snyder, 25, Milltown, N.J.; Robert L. Volden, 28, New York City; Tyrone M. Brooks, 19, Detroit; and Michael N. Manns Jr., 22, Fredericksburg, Va. An investigating team, headed by Rear Adm. J. B. Laplante, was looking into the boiler room accident, a Navy statement said. It said Laplante was ``appointed to conduct a preliminary inquiry regarding the circumstances surrounding the accident.'' Laplante and his aides were flown to Bahrain on Tuesday from his ship, the USS Nassau, in the north Arabian Sea. The accident was the worst for the Navy in the U.S.-led air, land and sea mobilization that followed the Iraqi invasion. The only previous fatality on a Navy ship was an electrician's mate who was accidentally electrocuted aboard the USS Antietam. The Iwo Jima is based in Norfolk, Va. Its crew comprised 685 members and some 1,100 Marines. The ship arrived in the Persian Gulf on Sept. 16 as part of the U.S. naval armada in support of Operation Desert Shield.
