iPod Saves

Just featured as a top person of the day; the story of the US Army Sergent and the iPod that stopped a bullet.

Here is the original flicker pic set and the caption:

Photos sent to me by my friend Danny with this caption:

My wife’s uncle works in a military hospital and told me about this. Its pretty amazing. Kevin Garrad (3rd Infantry Division) was on a street patrol in Iraq (Tikrit I believe) and as he rounded the corner of a building an armed (AK-47) insurgent came from the other side.

The two of them were within just a few feet of each other when they opened fire. The insurgent was killed and Kevin was hit in the left chest where his IPod was in his jacket pocket. It slowed the bullet down enough that it did not completely penetrate his body armor. Fortunately, Kevin suffered no wound.

I thought it was a great story so I posted them here.

Possibly more interesting is the original poster's documentation of the blooming of the Internet growth of the picture and the related story on the blog HavanaLion under the post "The Digg Effect".

That post even warranted an update:

I decided to move the updating on the Soldier and Ipod photos to my blog. It’s just easier to do it here.

First I want to thank everyone who has volunteered to replace the iPod. This includes people from Apple, Circuit City and Wal-Mart. There also numerous individuals who have volunteered to do it themselves or take up a collection. All of this support is real cool.

To make something very clear, DO NOT send me anything. I’m not trying to profit in any way from this story and I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.

Danny and I are working hard to try and reach Kevin. When we do, we promise to pass the information along (if he wants us to) to those that are interested.

Thanks again everyone.