Army medics save soldier impaled with live RPG

By James Lewis

This amazing story should make headlines in all the newspapers. In an incredible feat of courage and skill, US Army personnel extracted an explosive RPG rocket from the body of Spc. Channing Moss in Afghanistan, according to the Military Times. A video can be found here. The incident happened last year, but was apparently just made public.

Army Spc. Channing Moss

"... was impaled through the abdomen with a rocket-propelled grenade, and an aluminum rod with one tail fin protruded from the left side of his torso. His fellow soldiers worried: Could he blow up and take them with him? For all anyone knew, the answer was yes.

Still, over the course of the next couple of hours, his buddies, a helicopter crew and a medical team would risk their own lives to save his.

"Moss is an African-American and he's gone to white. He's in total shock from the loss of blood. But at the time, I really didn't think about it. I knew [the RPG] was there but I thought, if we didn't do it, if we didn't get him out of there, he was going to die," said flight medic Sgt. John Collier, 29, then a specialist.

"It was an extremely unusual set of events. He should have died three times that day," said Maj. John Oh, 759th Forward Surgical Team general surgeon."

What can you say about courage like that?

There are no words. But what a contrast with the behavior of some people here at home, who show nothing but scorn for the real heroes.

Heroes in Afghanistan and Iraq versus scoundrels in Washington, D.C. Just take a minute and let yourself know the difference. The peak and nadir of human character.

Then you can decide who you really support.

James Lewis blogs at dangeroustime.wordpress.com/