freecounterpoint: Jumping on a grenade

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Not the sort of thing one normally does -- or live to talk about. This guy has balls.

My Frontier Thesis said...: This is no Harry Flashman feat, and we think of the gray area that joins our concept of stupidity with courage (and I don't mean that in a negative way). But this is wow. Absolutely outstanding. Send him a Congressional Medal of Honor and Purple Heart as well.; 3/30/2008 12:04 PM
Tecumseh said...: Right -- but don't try to emulate his feat, this is dangerous stuff. I heard of men jumping on grenades to save their fellow soldiers, but this is the first time ever I hear of a guy taking the explosion, and just walking away. Part of the reason must be that he jumped on his back (usually, they jump on their bellies, and that is not pretty when it blows up), with his backpack (and then armor) taking the brunt force of the explosion. Still, how many times would this work?; 3/30/2008 12:55 PM
My Frontier Thesis said...: The story sounded like the back pack absorbed the brunt of the shock, and his body armor saved him from fatal shrapnel. Often times it's the shock of the explosion that kills first, and the trauma suffered from the shrapnel a close second.; 3/30/2008 3:16 PM