Direct Hit on US Command Center

possible.... at the brigade's tactical operations center, or TOC,

on the outskirts of the city. The relief effort is being coordinated when an Iraqi surface-to-surface

missile unexpectedly streaks in at 10:24 AM. The warhead makes a direct hit,

demolishing the TOC and destroying 17 vehicles. In the worst mass casualty event of

the war for the US military, five Americans are killed and 17 wounded. Colonel Perkins

had been on the phone with the TOC when the missile struck. He is told by the

officer on station, "Sir, we just got hammered. I'll have to call you back.

It doesn't look good." To make matters worse, the men defending