Ranger lives after taking .45 to the head

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Corporal K

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There, standing in the middle of a small bedroom, was an insurgent waving a 45-caliber pistol around the room, spraying bullets at will.

The first round popped Vaughn in the left arm. The second entered his head near the left eye and plowed along the outer edge of his skull. Later, a fellow soldier would find the cartridge lodged in the rear of Vaughn’s helmet. Before blacking out, Vaughn triggered 10 rounds into the Iraqi who had shot him.

http://225batonrouge.com/news/2010/apr/01/when-they-fight-they-fight/
 
What can you say to that...he's one tough cookie! The 45ACP is not the man stopper we thought it was! Either that or Sgt Vaughn has one tough skull! Glad he is doing better.
 
The .45 ACP is a VERY GOOD round and Sgt. Vaughn IS one tough cookie. Some days Jesus loves ya.
 
Erik M said:
how did the shell casing end up in his helmet
Click to expand...

I guess people kept correcting the writer about using the word "bullet" when he meant cartridge, so now he uses "cartridge" for everything. I see this sort of thing a lot with English-speakers regarding "I" and "me"--having been corrected so often for incorrectly using "me" in the subject of a sentence as children, I daresay that a majority of people tend to incorrectly use "I" in the predicate as adults. :banghead:

Either that or the writer just goofed up.

distra said:
The 45ACP is not the man stopper we thought it was!
Click to expand...

Well, it stopped him, didn't it? ;)

I'm not making fun of Vaughn, of course--I'm glad that he made it through as well as he did. He's not just fortunate to be alive, but at least he can speak and function at a high level, which is nearly miraculous. I hope that he keeps improving.
 
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I knew a retired Marine Colonel who took a similar shot from an AK-47 in Vietnam. Entered near the temple, went all the way around and came out his neck on the other side. One of his Marines put him on the medivac chopper assuming, reasonably, that he had gone to his reward. About 30 years later the Col. went furniture shopping and came face to face with the man who'd put his apparently lifeless body on the chopper. It was quite a reunion.
 
I'm impressed that he's alive. I'm MORE impressed that he managed to fire 15 rounds into the BG after taking a shot to the head... Definition of toughness.
 
You don't make it in the special forces by accident. They are the best of the best and the toughest of the tough. Incredible. May we never take what they, and all other soldiers do for granted.
 
This guy was lucky AND well trained! That's how he put 10 rounds into the guy before he went down. I worked on a guy in the E.R. that took a .45 round to the chest. The round broke two ribs, then flattened out and followed the rib cage around to the back. The bullet wound up just under the skin, on the guys back about T3/T4 area. Strange things happen with bullets.
 
The guy was a Ranger, not SF.
Big difference.
Important he survives. Atitude is a big part and Rangers are tough guys.

I did two tours SF in VN.

I was constantly amazed at the amount of damage a human body could take and recover from.
Also you would see dead guys with barely a scratch.

Friend of mine lost quite a bit of brain matter and is relatively normal.
He is featured in the current Vietnan magazine.
 
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