Starfleet1403
...to bodly spawn where no one has spawned before!
+66|6930|Born in West-Berlin
just found this in another forum:

U.S. Marine Corps
Pfc. Fred M. Linck
Helmet Stops Bullet, Saves Marine

By Cpl. Brian Reimers




1st Marine Division
FALLUJAH, Iraq, May 12, 2006 — If anyone is proud to be labeled hardheaded, it’s Pfc. Fred M. Linck. The 19-year-old from Westbrook,Conn., took an enemy shot to the head and walked away with little more than a sore noggin and a white bandage.

Linck of 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, was struck by a single enemy bullet on May 5.

“It seemed like just another day in the city of Fallujah,” said Linck, an infantryman assigned to C Company. “But everything changed for me that day.”

The young Marine just got off of a security post and was tasked to be part of a reaction force. The force was gearing up to respond to a call for help in the city.

“We got some intelligence stating that there was a possible improvised explosive device on the corner of the main street in Fallujah,” he said. “My team of Marines reacted to the call and showed up to the site. We immediately dismounted our vehicles and set up a cordon of the area.”

Some of the other men in the team didn’t think that this would be a normal mission.

“Something told me that this was going to be a setup, a pretty usual tactic for the insurgents to use against us,” said Lance Cpl. Randon O. Hogen, a fellow infantrymen and member of Linck’s fire team.

Hogen’s gut instincts were right. Somewhere in the shadows of the concrete buildings, an insurgent was waiting for the Marines.

“I was running back across the street after we had confirmed that the IED we responded to was in fact not one, when I heard the shot,” said Lance Cpl . Kelvin J. Grisales, fire team leader and friend of Linck.

A single shot cracked through the air. Everyone jolted and not even Linck, who was hit, knew what happened.

“After the shot rang out, I remember hearing someone screaming ‘Man down, Man down,’” Linck said. “I realized a second later that man was me, I was on the ground.”

It took a couple seconds for everything to appear clear to Linck. The sounds of Marines calling for help weren’t for anyone but him, but he was ready to get up and fight.

“I was pretty scared when I realized that I had just taken a round to the head, but the scariest part was that I was thinking about it and I felt fine,” Linck said, who has only served with the battalion for a few months. “It felt as if I had fallen and hit my head, that’s it.”

The rest of his team did not know his status. They didn’t take chances and followed their training, evacuating him out of the area.

“When we picked him up, he grabbed my hand and told me that he was pretty nervous,” said 22-year-old Grisales, from Hartford, Conn. “All I could do was to try to reassure him that he would be alright, at the same time I was trying to do the same for myself.”

Linck was transferred directly from the battlefield to the nearest hospital where he was treated and released without even a stitch in his head.

The issued helmet he wore stopped the majority of the round. A small piece of fragmentation from the round pierced through the headband inside of the helmet, causing a small laceration on his forehead. “It was such a relief for us when we pulled up to the hospital and we found out that he was okay,” Grisales said.

“I thank God that it happened the way that it did,” Hogen added.

Linck doesn’t discount Divine intervention or luck, but trusts his gear more now than ever.

“I know for sure that if it wasn’t for that helmet, I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” Linck said. “It pays to wear all the gear the way it is supposed to be worn.”

“It is one thing to hear about what our gear is capable of, but this just makes it a reality,” Hogen said. “It did exactly what it was supposed to do.”

Linck’s since returned to duty with a new outlook on life.

“It is kind of like a second lease of life,” he said. “I want to make sure I do everything right.”


https://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4318/sniperkill0cn.th.jpg


U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Fred M. Linck was shot in the head and walked
away from the incident in Fallujah, Iraq. The enemy round struck his
Kevlar helmet, which saved his life by stopping the bullet. A piece of
fragmentation caused a small laceration to the Marine’s forehead. Linck is
an infantryman with C Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment,
Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brian Reimers

Last edited by Starfleet1403 (2006-05-21 05:06:30)

anzus
Wheres the trigger?
+34|6951|Wangaratta, Australia
that man should buy a lottery ticket. And ring his mom.
InviSniper
The first true Sniper.
+95|6951|Cumberland, MD, USA

anzus wrote:

that man should buy a lottery ticket. And ring his mom.
I think he used up all of his luck on that one. Lucky man to be alive. I have family over there so it's good to see that the gear we send over there is actually saving lives.
anzus
Wheres the trigger?
+34|6951|Wangaratta, Australia

InviSniper wrote:

anzus wrote:

that man should buy a lottery ticket. And ring his mom.
I think he used up all of his luck on that one. Lucky man to be alive. I have family over there so it's good to see that the gear we send over there is actually saving lives.
wish thats all they needed to stay alive.
Echo
WOoKie
+383|7027|The Netherlands
Thats one lucky guy. A couple of centimeters lower and it would have been fatal.

I ve worn a Kevlar helmet and body armor and the disadvantage of Kevlar is that its very heavy, helmet 3,5 kilos and body armor 15 kilo, thats a lot next to the rest of the gear which was about 35 kilo's in my unit. I used to hate wearing body armor cause its too damn heavy and it limits movement.

Kevlar is great stuff, i work as a tree surgeon and i got Kevlar cutting protection in my meindl boots and phanner saw pants to protest me against chainsaw fuck ups. Its used in a different way with about 6 layers and its very flexible. Some of the chainsaws we use are pretty powerful and about 12 hp so if you accidentally hit your pants with a saw, the chain will pull out a lot of these fibers and that will jam your saw so you cant cut your leg off.

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