I must admit third hand info on this.
I didn't personally know the classmates in question - I knew some people who knew them, and I knew who they were. Word came back that way.
Side question - an ex-Microsoft co-contractor of mine was a sniper during Gulf War I. He said that you had one guy sitting on top of a tank, (note the word 'tank' not 'M1') totally unprotected by the armor, for dealing with threats that the tank couldn't see due to reduced visibility caused by, well, all the armor in the way.
He said he was one of those guys, and his "tank" got hit by the one type of shell that wouldn't kill him - the kind that penetrates and then bounces around inside a whole lot. Don't know how much to trust him on that, but any confirmation of the tactic (sticking a sniper on a moving vehicle) would be interesting to hear.
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the wise cannot see all ends." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.