The Nation - News from Sept. 29, 1989

A mortar shell exploded and killed two soldiers during a training exercise at Ft. Stewart in Georgia, a day after three soldiers died in Oklahoma when an artillery shell overshot its target. The Ft. Stewart soldiers were killed while firing 4.2-inch shells, said Lt. Col. Herbert Blanks, spokesman for the Army Safety Center at Ft. Rucker, Ala. Maj. Donald Keeling, spokesman at Ft. Stewart, said the mortar could have been faulty or one of the victims might have made an error setting the timing fuse on the device. At Ft. Sill, Okla., Army investigators inspected a crater where a stray round hit the day before, killing three soldiers and injuring 23. Officials said the round from a howitzer overshot a target area by half a mile.