In Afghanistan, 2012, US Marine Lance Corporal Winder Perez took an RPG that punched through his thigh and stayed there, live, instead of detonating. When Perez was told what was in his leg, he said “Cool.”

X.com ^ | October 3,2026 | Special Ops Magazine @specialopsmag

[ransomnote]

Special Ops Magazine
@specialopsmag
In Afghanistan, 2012, US Marine Lance Corporal Winder Perez took an RPG that punched through his thigh and stayed there, live, instead of detonating.

An Army MEDEVAC crew that had been told they were picking up an injured child landed, saw the round still stuck in him, and voted to fly him anyway, even though hauling unexploded ordnance is against the rules.

They made the careful run to FOB Edinburgh, where the rest of the base was held back and Navy Lt. Cmdr. James Gennari kept Perez breathing while Army EOD Staff Sgt. Ben Summerfield pulled the rocket free. Perez stayed conscious through it.

When Perez was told what was in his leg, he said “Cool.” He survived.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: dollypartoneatskids

[null and void]

Typical Marine...

(I think they may have edited out a few choice words)

[JayGalt]

Inspiring story.
I went looking & this is what I found, a thank you from US Marine Lance Corporal Winder Perez to the people & organizations that help him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xWUZn7DRAQ

[Allegra]

Gotta love the Marines.

[PGR88]

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’

Shakespeare, Henry V

[Flaming Conservative]

God is so good! Thank you, military everywhere, for your service!

[ansel12]

It is surprising the number of times things like this happened, a number of times 40mm lodged in a GI’s body.

Here is a 2 minute video of one being removed from a Vietnamese farmer since old photos are hard to find online now days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjJpN0jCtMc

And text- https://taskandpurpose.com/history/air-force-vietnam-surgery-human-bomb/

[ansel12]

Here is one from 1966 that is behind a paywall.

Vietnam Surgeon Finds He’s Removed Grenade
“A Navy surgeon removed a lethal rifle grenade from the throat of a United States Marine Corps private last night. He showed it around the operating room before he found out it might kill the eight people there.”
https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/22/archives/vietnam-surgeon-finds-hes-removed-grenade.html

[lowbridge]

Just another boring day at the office.

[nikos1121]

Did he lose the leg? How did they get the RPG out without it exploding?

[jroehl]

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

[JayGalt]

Google his name for more stories. He had 35 surgeries over the next year but he recovered.

[Da Coyote]

Yup, that’s courage. Needs a wheelbarrow to carry around his you-know-whats.

[EnderWiggin1970]

Neat story. And it one-ups one I remember from the 90’s. A plant that builds airbag inflators had an explosion that left an inflator lodged “in the nasal cavity” of a worker. The bomb squad worked together with a surgical team in the OR to remove it.

[Paal Gulli]

"Did he lose the leg? How did they get the RPG out without it exploding?"

The warhead doesn't arm until it's flown five meters downrange. Either this was a really close shot or the warhead was defective.

[Paal Gulli]

And NO, RPG DOESN'T stand for "rocket propelled grenade," no matter how many nimrods claim otherwise.

The Russian is "Ручная противотанковая гранатометная," which literally translates to "handheld antitank grenade launcher." The word "rocket" is nowhere to be found.

When the USSR shipped them to its monkey states they printed the Anglicized phonetic spelling on the boxes, "Ruchnoy Protivotankovyy Granatomet," which is pronounced identically to "Ручная противотанковая гранатометная." And that's where the "RPG" comes into the picture.

Some English-only monoglot took the Anglicized initials "RPG" and ignorantly invented the backronym "rocket propelled grenade." And now were stuck with it.