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Pronounced Dead, this Army Medic has an Amazing Story

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bennett

By Debbie Gregory.

Those who serve in the U.S. military often have a story to tell when they come home. But John Bennett’s story may be one of the oddest stories with a happy ending that you’ve ever heard.

The young Army medic, just 20-years-old, was serving in Vietnam when he was struck by lightening and declared dead. Quite a coincidence, as Bennett’s high school nickname was “Lightning” due to the speed he ran in track.

The only thing was, he was still alive. He proved that wen sometime between 18 and 24 hours later, he woke up, in a morgue, in a body bag.

When Bennett regained consciousness, he used his knife to cut himself out of the body bag.

“Around me were many litters with body bags on them just like mine. I didn’t know if I was in enemy or friendly hands. I was in shock. I had always been so very cognizant of my surroundings and now I was in a place I could not identify and had no idea of how or why I was here.”

“What went through my mind is, ‘How did this happen, and how did I miss this?’” Bennett said.

In an understandable state of confusion, Bennett grappled to understand where he was and why he was there until someone came in and found him.

When he was asked what his problem was, Bennett replied, “You tell me!”

They retrieved the body tag, which said that Bennett had been killed in action — struck by lightning.

His battalion was preparing to name a bunker after their fallen comrade.

Phillip Kissinger, the chaplain for Bennett’s platoon, vaguely remembers writing a letter to Bennett’s parents informing them of their son’s death.Unfortunately, a letter to correct the erroneous declaration was never sent.

That letter reached his parents, but another letter correcting it was never sent out.

Bennett was able to get a message to his father by radio, weeks after his family had mourned his passing.

Fortunately for Bennett’s wife, who was eight months’ pregnant at the time, no one sent her a letter regarding her husband’s fate.

And if this story wasn’t already incredulous, after the war, the career Bennett chose? Electrician! You couldn’t make this up!

Medic Disciplined after Snapchat Posting of a Fellow Soldier’s Severed Body Part

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Landstuhl Regional Medical

By Debbie Gregory.

An Army medic has been temporarily removed from patient care after posting a photo on Snapchat of a patient’s severed body part in an operating room at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC ) in Germany

The indiscretion has prompted military officials to impose social media guidelines in order to prevent this from happening again.

After the medic posted a photo of unrecognizable body tissue, a fellow staff member saw the picture and alerted officials, who demanded the image be deleted.

“This type of behavior is unprofessional and violates the trust of those we serve, and the tenets of our profession,” said Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Nadja West in an email to medical staff.

No protected health or personal information was captured in the photo, and the patient, whose privacy was not compromised, was not notified of the incident

The medic was motivated to post the image out of a sense of pride in taking part in the procedure.

“Health care and the military are among the most trusted professions, and we work hard to maintain and deserve that trust … but it can be easily lost,” said LRMC commander Col. Timothy Hudson. “As professionals and as human beings, we must hold ourselves and each other accountable. It’s not only about doing the right thing, protecting patient privacy is the law.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Army Veteran, Gunman in Colorado Shooting, had History of Mental Illness

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matthew-riehl

By Debbie Gregory.

He was once a standout student in law school and an Army medic. But in the very early morning hours on New Year’s Eve, 37-year-old Matthew Riehl shot four sheriff’s deputies who responded to a complaint at his apartment in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, killing Sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish.

At 5:15 a.m, law enforcement was called out to the apartment to investigate a complaint of a “verbal disturbance” involving two men. One of the men told them the suspect “was acting bizarre and might be having a mental breakdown” but the deputies found no evidence of a crime.

They were called back less than an hour later and came under fire almost immediately after entering the apartment and trying to talk with the suspect, who was holed up inside a bedroom. They were forced to retreat.

Riehl was killed during the subsequent shootout with a police tactical team that left a SWAT officer injured.

Deputy Parrish, 29, leaves behind his wife Gracie and two young daughters.

Riehl enlisted in the Army Reserves in 2003, and in 2006 he joined the Wyoming Army National Guard. He deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom from April 2009 to March 2010. He was honorably discharged in 2012.

Riehl had a history of mental issues, and had escaped from a veterans mental health ward in 2014 during a stay for a psychotic episode. His mother told authorities that her son had post-traumatic stress disorder from his Iraq war deployment and was refusing to take his medication to treat the condition.

By mid-2016, Riehl was at the center of a string of worrisome events reported by police in Colorado and Wyoming. He posted tirades on social media about the faculty at the Wyoming law school and sent harassing emails to police after getting a speeding ticket.

Riehl posted videos criticizing Colorado law enforcement officers in profane, highly personal terms. He also used social media to livestream the confrontation leading up to the shooting.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Army Medic Shifted into “Hero Mode” Following Amtrak Train Derailment

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mccoy

By Debbie Gregory.

When an Amtrak train derailed in Dupont, Washington on December 18th, Second Lt. Robert McCoy hit the brakes on his pickup truck just in time to avoid impact.

The 23-year-old Army officer from Oklahoma had only been at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for weeks, and was heading home when the tragedy occurred.

Assigned to the 56th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, McCoy knew he needed to help.

“I remembered I had a tourniquet and a CPR mask in my truck and I grabbed those and I took off toward the accident.”

McCoy carried many of the ejected passengers out of the road to safety and then turned his attention to the people trapped inside the dangling train car.

One elderly woman was partially dangling outside the train car.

“She was kind at the end here, dangling out, but another downed rail car was right here,” McCoy said. “Her daughter kind of pulled her out backwards and I just reached under her and picked her up and put her down on some form of safe structure.”

McCoy also assisted a woman with a severely broken leg.

McCoy’s heroics inspired praise from his platoon sergeant, Hunter Williams.

Williams posted the following on his Facebook page:

“By now, many of you are aware that an Amtrak train derailed in DuPont (the city I live in), just outside the gate of Joint Base Lewis Mcchord. What you don’t know, yet anyway, is that my incoming Platoon Leader was the first bystander on scene… Without thinking twice, he immediately began pulling injured civilians out of the vehicles and the train itself…This young 2LT isn’t an experienced leader in the Army. He didn’t graduate from West Point and hasn’t been to combat. He is literally as green as they come and is fresh out of the Basic Officer Leader Course. Hell, he hasn’t even finished in-processing JBLM and our battalion yet. However, when adversity hit… he acted. THIS is the type of leader we need in the Army. These are the men (and women) you want leading your sons and daughters into combat. The ones whose fight instinct overcomes their flight instinct, regardless of the situation, and they act to ensure that people live…  he’s told me over and over how excited he is for me to be his first Platoon Sergeant. What he doesn’t know though, is how proud I am for him to be my Platoon Leader. Great job, sir.”

The crash claimed the lives of three people and wounded at least 100 others.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.


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