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Only combat experience I had was on a ship in Desert Storm. Only two experiences that came close to a near death. Looked over side of ship and saw the mine the mine watch missed, at GQ station and heard announced "missile inbound".
The real near death experience I had wasn't in combat. First was testing a battle lantern as part of routine maintenance and discovered the hard way the yard worker who installed it wired it in reverse. Hit the test button and I had 120 volts running through. Second was when I was working in SIMA in Ingleside Texas. Was in the bilges of a minesweeper unbolting the flanges of a pump to be removed for repair. When the flange separated I had a hard solid spray of cold sea water hitting my face and body. Too much pressure for my hands to block the water and no room to move out of the way of the spray. Was beginning to drown when my coworkers dropped a steel deck plate between my face and the water. Once I caught my breath I could then tighten up the bolts to stop the engine room from flooding. They found out later that both valves were broken in the open position. Once a box patch was put over the intake I had to go back in to finish the job.
I spent 5 years in the Marine Corps from 97-02 and my only near death experience was cutting myself on a tape backup drive. My finger bled for a good 5 minutes.
At a Missile Testing range in New Mexico, I had 2 very interesting range blocks. Basically, how fast those damn things fly, there is no way to get out of their way. 2 Different shots on 2 different days fell way short.... but pretty close, by their speed, to me and another MP out in the range. We felt the shock of them "landing".
A thread like this can get real deep. There are some who really thought their time was up. Remember we just came out of wars. With some still in harm's way.
My "near death" experience happened in Vietnam. It's long in the past . . . and there it will remain. Some brave warriors did not lay their heads on a pillow that night. Enough said. I've gotten over it and have moved on.
An RPG or maybe it was a recoilless rifle round hit the mud hut on the side of the road right before our MRAP passed it during one convoy mission, we were lucky the guy didn't have slightly better aim.
To the OP. I hope you notice how many of us are willing to talk about near death experiences in this context. If you have ever served you would understand the reluctance of the soldier to talk about the really close bullet or that fall from above.
I can tell you one story told to me by a soldier from the 26th Yankee division. It will be short. The "Battle of the Bulge" these soldiers were at a stop waiting on logistics and so there was passes given out to some. One morning my friend this soldier of the division artillery woke up in a second floor apartment to the sounds of heavy machinery going down the street outside the window. When he looked out and I am imagining there were several in that predicament saw that he was now behind enemy lines.. That battle didnt last. It was basically a last gasp of the Germans. He had to make it back to his unit. It took a few hours but he managed. How did I get this from my friend, a 75 year old half deaf man? He told me because I teased him about chasing the nurses at the hospital he had just left after some medical testing. He joked and knowing that I was still serving and had my 26 YD patch on my uniform told me about his lady chasing that time.
I mention this because as we know we lose 500 of our bravest every day. It will slow down soon as there will be no more left. These bravest of the brave (though most would tell you they were scared ****less (pardon the language)) were an inspiration to us. I knew soldiers that were just a few years older then me returned home from Vietnam, and though I went through almost my entire 30+ years in relative safety I am still so thankful for the men and women who served before, with and after me.
I will not tell you my war stories either, at least not the near death ones. I might be convinced to share my OMG how hot can the temperature get tale.
I wasn't a soldier. I was a sailor in the Navy. When it comes to the Navy, near death experiences aren't limited to combat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfingduo
To the OP. I hope you notice how many of us are willing to talk about near death experiences in this context. If you have ever served you would understand the reluctance of the soldier to talk about the really close bullet or that fall from above.
I can tell you one story told to me by a soldier from the 26th Yankee division. It will be short. The "Battle of the Bulge" these soldiers were at a stop waiting on logistics and so there was passes given out to some. One morning my friend this soldier of the division artillery woke up in a second floor apartment to the sounds of heavy machinery going down the street outside the window. When he looked out and I am imagining there were several in that predicament saw that he was now behind enemy lines.. That battle didnt last. It was basically a last gasp of the Germans. He had to make it back to his unit. It took a few hours but he managed. How did I get this from my friend, a 75 year old half deaf man? He told me because I teased him about chasing the nurses at the hospital he had just left after some medical testing. He joked and knowing that I was still serving and had my 26 YD patch on my uniform told me about his lady chasing that time.
I mention this because as we know we lose 500 of our bravest every day. It will slow down soon as there will be no more left. These bravest of the brave (though most would tell you they were scared ****less (pardon the language)) were an inspiration to us. I knew soldiers that were just a few years older then me returned home from Vietnam, and though I went through almost my entire 30+ years in relative safety I am still so thankful for the men and women who served before, with and after me.
I will not tell you my war stories either, at least not the near death ones. I might be convinced to share my OMG how hot can the temperature get tale.
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