Posted on 03/09/2010 11:16:11 AM PST by Pyro7480
A soldier serving with the British Army in Afghanistan has told of the moment he threw back a Taliban hand grenade, telling himself: "I've really only got one chance to do this."
Rifleman James McKie from Recce Platoon, 3rd Battalion The Rifles was under fire from three directions on a roof when the grenade hit his platoon commander and landed at his feet.
"My first thought was I hope this doesn't hurt too much," the New Zealander said. "That, and I've really only got one chance to do this.
"If it fails, either way, doing nothing, I'm going to get the same amount of hurt. So I picked it up and threw it off the roof."
It exploded in mid-air just seconds later, sending shrapnel flying....
McKie sustained fragmentation injuries to his right arm and face as the grenade exploded mid air, close to where he stood.
Fragmentation also hit his Platoon commander Captain Graeme Kerr who received leg injuries and who is recovering at Selly Oak Hospital in Britain.
"In retrospect, people keep telling me how brave I am, which I'm slightly embarrassed about," said McKie, who previously served in the New Zealand army....
"I don't feel particularly brave. I thought: I have to do this to survive."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
"breaker morant" comes to mind.
Hand grenades and horseshoes...
I can see the Muslims running down the stairs being followed by a stick of dynamite in Khartoum.
Sadly, Rule 303 appears to have been repealed.
“Fragmentation also hit his Platoon commander Captain Graeme Kerr”
Will he be able to cook again?
He was right, he wouldn’t be any less dead if he just froze.
Well, he may not be able to gallop right away.
I recall reading sometime ago that nearly 50% of the posthumous Medals of Honor that went to Marines during WW II resulted when the Marine threw himself on a grenade to protect his fellow Marines.
I would be kind of embarrassed if people called me brave too.
Now had he been under cover and jumped out to save his fellow soldiers then that’s brave, but if it’s either do or die then brave isn’t exactly the right word for it.
Its like when they asked JFK how he had become a war hero. He said, “It was easy. They sank my boat.”
Yeah, Breaker Morant was an Englishman serving in the Australian Army, whereas this man is a New Zealander serving in the British Army. I can see the similarities....
Hmm. this seems to be an attempt at sarcasm.
Actually, I thought Breaker Morant was an Aussie. Go ahead and have some fun with that, Eddie Murphy.
Breaker Morant was born in Somerset and moved to Australia when he was 19. If we take the logic that leads us to conclude that ‘Breaker’ Morant was an Australian, then we can take it that the New Zealander in this story, who is in the British Army and presumably lives in Britain, is British...
Was he ALLOWED to do that? Won’t he be prosecuted for an attempt to HARM a MUSLIM??
Heh. True enough.
I suppose it felt like everything was happening in slow motion, too... which... with a grenade in your hand... is probably a freakin' eternity.
Said he tried to toss it off properly so that the Afghans wouldn’t throw it right back... huh? Is this a Roadrunner cartoon?
Wasn’t he Australian?
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