Soldier's tooth stops bullet!

[General Geoff]

Link

The Tooth that Saved a Soldier's Life Marked as: Mature, Featured
Christmas Eve morning a soldier came into our clinic at the Ibn Sina Hospital in downtown Baghdad covered in his own blood. He recounted an incredible story. Early Christmas Eve morning, two squads were assigned to sweep and clear two adjacent homes where Iraq terrorists were holed-up. The patient, SGT C, was leading one of those assault squads. The other squad hit their target first.

SGT C said that he heard a lot of small arms fire and yelling, so he thought he would round the corner and size up the situation before advancing his team. Unfortunately, as he turned the corner, he found himself staring directly into the barrel of a 9mm automatic pistol. SGT C said he never had time to be scared, he just knew he was dead. The terrorist pulled the trigger and, miraculously, SGT C found himself still standing. He figured the bullet had missed. He advanced on the Iraqi, who immediately surrendered. After the enemy was rounded up, SGT C said he started to feel light! headed and one of his soldiers insisted that he proceed to the hospital. He realized at this time that he had lost his front tooth in the gun fight. He figured the ballistic shock from the weapon's blast had knocked it loose. He was wrong.


When he presented early that morning Major Kimberly Perkins, our oral surgeon, took a panograph and discovered the incredible truth. The 9mm bullet did NOT miss SGT C. He was hit directly in the face. The bullet entered just below his nose where it impacted the apex of #8. The energy from the bullet was transferred to the tooth, literally ejecting the tooth from its socket, and stopping the bullet in its track. Other than the missing tooth, the majority of SGT C's injuries were confined to soft tissue.

Incredible. The Iraqi probably thought the guy was Superman or something. Not every day you shoot someone in the head from point blank range, and they stand there like nothing happened.

 

[Nomad101bc]

See 9mm is not a strong enough caliber for HD. Amazing story though glad he was so fortunate.

 

[Wayne G.]

The 9mm bullet did NOT miss SGT C. He was hit directly in the face.

So much for the "caliber doesn't matter--it's all about shot placement" theory!

 

[Harley Quinn]

The terrorist pulled the trigger and, miraculously, SGT C found himself still standing. He figured the bullet had missed. He advanced on the Iraqi, who immediately surrendered. After the enemy was rounded up, SGT C said he started to feel light! headed
***************************

This person is very lucky to be sure.

My main thought is, you don't shoot back, they shoot you and then surrender This is a story that is perplexing in more ways then one.

I have read the stories going around about this attitude.

We should leave the area, surround it. Wait awhile, go back, mop up and bury the dead.

 

[Cannonball888]

R Lee Emery always said the 9mm is an inadequate combat round.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

1. I'm really glad that guy went home okay.
2. Sounds like a "Christmas Miracle" to me
3. I'm really starting to doubt my 9mm pistols
4. I'm glad I have a 357
5. I need a 45-got to buy a new gun (rats...)

 

[cambeul41]

If you are looking for a reason (or excuse) to buy a new gun . . .

. . . this is as good as any. On the other hand, I would be willing to bet that the round was defective.

 

[CajunBass]

So much for the "caliber doesn't matter--it's all about shot placement" theory!

R Lee Emery always said the 9mm is an inadequate combat round.

Yea. Ignore all those stacks of bodies in the 9mm's corner. Focus on one miracle instead. Good plan.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

Yea. Ignore all those stacks of bodies in the 9mm's corner. Focus on one miracle instead. Good plan.

Shh. you're ruining my justification for another gun!

 

[GunTech]

That just gores to show that blind luck will often enought trump everything else. But it's not something I'd rely on.

 

[dogtown tom]

He was hit directly in the face.

As opposed to being hit indirectly in the face?

Given the general inaccuracies in news reporting, I have more than a little scepticism about this one too.


What 9mm CARTRIDGE? The surgeon said it was a 9mm & the article says 9mm automatic, but nowhere does it tell us if it was a .380, 9x18 Makarov, 9mm Largo, or as everyone on here assumed- the 9x19.

.45ACP fans shouldn't get too excited.

 

[leadcounsel]

I call BS.

The article is full of inconsistencies (moved in and captured the terrorist - yeah, right. If a terrorist shoots at a team during MOUT, that terrorist is shot) and mis-statements (automatic pistol)...

If it did happen, then it was defective powder/bullet or it was a ricochet off a wall.

I will confess that really bizarre things happen. In college, a guy a few doors down in my dormatory was taking meds for an infection (sports related laceration). He was feeling dizy and leaned against what he though was a window. The window was open and he went right out the 4th story window and landed on packed dirt and shrubbery. According to witnesses, he got up and walked back inside. He was taken to the hospital for observation and was sent home the next day without a single injury related to the fall!

 

[Wayne G.]

Yea. Ignore all those stacks of bodies in the 9mm's corner.

22's and baseball bats have killed people too. That doesn't mean I'd trust either to protect my life.

.45ACP fans shouldn't get too excited.

I think you meant to say 9mm fans shouldn't get too excited. Show me an article where a 45 is stopped by a TOOTH and I'll start to get excited. Until then, I'll stick with 45. Use what you feel comfortable with. I'm merely doing the same!

 

[Harley Quinn]

I am comfortable with most of the ones that are out there doing the job. I carried a 38 spl for many, many years. The reason I felt good about them then and now, is I can hit what I aim at. No problem in that sector.

Now carry (under clothes) a Beretta 1935 380

 

[SDC]

It may not have even been a 9mm; the Iraqis have produced lots of copies of Beretta pistols that LOOK like 9mms, but are chambered in .32.

 

[k-frame]

Photos...

Snopes stalked about this a while back and added some more detail plus images of the lucky soldier.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/teeth.asp

 

[jkcourtney]

i'm a .45 fan that understands why 9mm is still used today...obviously .45 is bigger and more damaging but 9mm has it's place and for a .45 fan to jump on this to try to prove a point is retarted...the only explanation for this is a miracle...I'd be willin to bet this soldier had some ppl prayin for him back home and if it was a miracle......not even a .50 cal would have killed him....just MHO. and i carry .45 cause i am more comfortable with it and because I want the chances of a one shot take down as high as possible...within reason of course...i just know somone would tell me to pack a hand grenade or sumthin..lol

 

[Cosmoline]

9mm WHAT? You should know by now Iraq is a mishmash of arms from the past 100 years. It could have easily been a 9x18 or a 9 corto. That is assuming the report is even remotely accurate to begin with. It could have been a .32 or a .25. Who's going to know the difference?

 

[El Tejon]

Bullet placement! How many times have we read that rubbish on THR? 1,000 by now?

Good thing this soldier does not read THR. If he had he would have known that one is to immediately fall to the ground and die once he was shot in the head.

Remember, it's just a handgun. Many people have been shot in the head and continued to fight after being shot in the head.

 

[Zoogster]

What caliber for dental work?

Most likely the particular round was a failure and the powder did not fully function. Whether it was from age, poor storage, a bad attempt at manufacturing in some third world factory etc. We also know the reporters often get the cartridge wrong, and 9mm as others have mentioned could be any number of rounds even if accurate, not just the 9x19 that we reserve that title for.

The guy is lucky, that much is clear.

 

[Nomad101bc]

Ohh I am no .45 fan. But I am a .40 S&W fanatic! If you look at ballistic gelatin it penetrates and does about the same size damage and it can hold more rounds.

 

[Tommygunn]

Yea. Ignore all those stacks of bodies in the 9mm's corner.

"one swallow does not a summer make."
Maybe it was a round that hadn't been assembled correctly, ie., too light of a powder charge????
Or maybe it was, as some suggest, a smaller caliber.
Something is fishy 'bout this, though.

Anyway ... a good lesson from this ...DOUBLETAP!

While 9mm. may not be a "magic" bullet, I'd generally expect more penetration than what happened in this case. Yup, that is one lucky soldier.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

I'm sure that will be an interesting scar to explain.


Like others said, maybe it was light on powder but maybe thats why he didn't shoot twice, maybe the gun's action didn't cycle correctly.

 

[JP from Phoenix]

Wow either those iraquis must have some pretty crappy guns or this dude had some pretty strong teeth!

 

[GRIZ22]

I personally know of someone who was shot in the mouth with a 380 FMJ at a range of about 10 feet. The bullet was deflected by their teeth and/or roof of the mouth, exited under the chin and lodged in their chest being stopped by the breastbone. They fully recovered after returning fire killing the BG. You don't have to believe it but I saw it happen.

I related this in response to another thread. The good guy fired 3 rounds after being hit in the mouth killing the bad guy.

Rather than get in a caliber war and speculate if it was a 380, 9x18, 32 or whatever, you have to recignize sometimes there are freak things that happen. It also this is evidence there is a Higher Authority looking after the good guys at times.