National Guardsmen Ridiculed After Nearly Drowning in Irene Rescue Attempt

Several members of the New Jersey National Guard were mocked Sunday as two of their trucks were swamped by floodwaters during an Irene rescue attempt that went awry.

An observer who filmed the incident in a video that has gone viral expressed disbelief as he and others watched the guardsmen escape their trucks through the windows and crawl on top of the trucks.

“Are you guys that stupid?” the man said. “Why would you take a guy that can’t swim?”

“You guys are stupid,” the man said later.

A New Jersey National Guard spokesman told Stars and Stripes that no one was injured in the rescue attempt.

“Those soldiers were there to search for and assist residents of New Jersey who needed help,” Chief Warrant Officer 2 Patrick Daugherty told the newspaper. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out right.”