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Marine jumps on grenade to save his comrades...
BBC ^ | BBC

Posted on 03/30/2008 5:25:35 PM PDT by thundrey

A Royal Marine who threw himself onto an exploding grenade to save the lives of his patrol has been put forward for the UK's highest military honour.

Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, 24, a reservist from Birmingham, survived because his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast.

He was part of a reconnaissance troop in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in February, when the incident happened.

The Ministry of Defence said he could be considered for the Victoria Cross.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; british; hero; marine; royalmarines; uk; uktroops; vc; victoriacross
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To: sionnsar
Britain is not lost so long as she can still produce such men.

Yes, and let's hope that their returning Vets, like ours, get into politics to clean the houses of the vermin.

121 posted on 03/31/2008 5:43:03 AM PDT by polymuser (Those who believe in something eventually prevail over those who believe in nothing.)
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To: Democrat_media

I hope you or a loved one never needs heroic help.


122 posted on 03/31/2008 5:51:50 AM PDT by polymuser (Those who believe in something eventually prevail over those who believe in nothing.)
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To: Democrat_media

I have no desire to put you in a concentration camp. I just think tha the people around you who may be dependant on you are owed a warning. That’s all.

Certainly you’ve had the good sense to keep the number dependant on you to a minimum.


123 posted on 03/31/2008 7:18:16 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: naturalman1975
Yes, he is a hero - but not all heroes get the VC. Acting as if it is the only suitable award for heroic behaviour denigrates the achievements of those who have received other honours for their heroism.

Man, that's a stiff upper lip. Good for you!
124 posted on 03/31/2008 7:24:26 AM PDT by rottndog (Let us NEVER FORGET those that have paid the HIGHEST PRICE for our FREEDOM!)
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To: thundrey
From this proud father of an Iraq War Veteran (U. S. Marine):

Semper Fi

125 posted on 03/31/2008 8:51:34 AM PDT by modyoulater (Everything is everything.)
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To: thundrey; DieHard the Hunter; SandRat

WOT Hero ping.


126 posted on 03/31/2008 9:43:05 AM PDT by StarCMC (http://cannoneerno4.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/peoples-information-support-team/ -JOIN US!-We're PIST!)
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To: naturalman1975

> But he didn’t lay down his life.
>
> He took a calculated risk, and saved his mates - and also saved himself.

IMO he did something that has seen others lose their lives and be awarded the Medal of Honor in this war. He had no business expecting to live thru the act.

I think it’s a bit of an undersell to say “he took a calculated risk” — you take a calculated risk when you buy technology stock. What he did was orders of magnitude greater than “taking a calculated risk.”

Unquestionably he put his life and wellbeing on the line to save his mates. No doubt about it.

Is that enough for a VC? I guess we will find out.


127 posted on 03/31/2008 9:58:51 AM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: Democrat_media
I don’t want to answer to a wife,

If you marry the right person you dont "answer to a wife"

That being said marriage is not for everyone. I love it. But that is for me.

128 posted on 03/31/2008 10:17:19 AM PDT by JackDanielsOldNo7 (On guard until the seal is broken)
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To: thundrey

He must have had the presence of mind to jump on it with his back facing the grenade?


129 posted on 03/31/2008 11:31:19 AM PDT by nikos1121 (typical white person)
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To: naturalman1975

Did Gunga Din get the VC?


130 posted on 03/31/2008 11:33:05 AM PDT by nikos1121 (typical white person)
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To: LSUfan

I dont remember the ship, but I was in Wilmington NC, when a brit ship back from the Falklands war, docked for a few days.
One thing that stands out in my memory is the ship’s rugby team, “playing” against a local team, the brits put a couple locals in the hospital, all in fun. they were a good bunch. just dont play rugby against them


131 posted on 03/31/2008 11:51:56 AM PDT by tm61
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To: DieHard the Hunter
IMO he did something that has seen others lose their lives and be awarded the Medal of Honor in this war. He had no business expecting to live thru the act.

What Croucher did is similar to what Corporal Jason Dunham of the USMC and Petty Officer Michael A. Monsoor of the USN did to receive their Medals of Honor, certainly. Similar enough that when condensed down to a headline, it looks like the same action.

But it's not quite the same. Both Dunham and Monsoor put their bodies in direct contact with the grenades. Croucher used his body as a shield some distance from the grenade - not a great distance, a matter of metres at most, but there is a difference.

When it comes to determining the difference between a VC, a CGC, and an MC the devil is in these details.

I think it’s a bit of an undersell to say “he took a calculated risk” — you take a calculated risk when you buy technology stock. What he did was orders of magnitude greater than “taking a calculated risk.”

Servicepeople are trained to make decisions like this, and to make instant assessments of relative risk. He did it well, but it is something he is expected to be able to do - to immediately assess a situation and exercise judgement.

Yes, sometimes people act instinctively - but Croucher's own description of his action shows that he was thinking about what he was doing. He took the best action he could to protect his mates - and once he'd done that, the best action he could to protect himself.

I have no doubt that if Croucher had assessed the situation and realised - perhaps because the grenade was closer than it was - his death was certain, that he still would have done what he did. The man is a hero. But he wasn't called on to do that.

Unquestionably he put his life and wellbeing on the line to save his mates. No doubt about it.

Yes, he did - but you get a Military Cross for doing that. Or maybe even a Mention-In-Dispatches.

That is why, since 1979, the MC has been able to be awarded posthumously. It's recognition that quite a few people who earn it, don't live through the experience.

An unofficial rule of thumb - 90% chance of death = VC, 70% chance of death = CGC, 50% chance of death = MC, less than 50% chance of death (ie, you expect to live) = MID.

Is that enough for a VC? I guess we will find out.

Talking to friends in the UK, the rumours are that he is, at present, most likely to get a Military Cross - the third highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy. That's just a rumour but they are in positions where they hear a lot of reliable rumours.

132 posted on 03/31/2008 4:12:42 PM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
survived because his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast
Wow.
133 posted on 04/02/2008 6:19:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: Democrat_media
I’m an individualist and won’t give my life for anyone else.

Oh, my ... how sad; have you never loved anyone?

This is what John Stuart Mill said:

"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

134 posted on 04/02/2008 9:04:14 AM PDT by LucyT
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