Marine threw himself onto grenade

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BBC NEWS | UK | England | West Midlands | Marine threw himself onto grenade


A Royal Marine who threw himself onto an exploding grenade to save the lives of his patrol has been put forward for the UK's highest military honour.

Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, 24, a reservist from Birmingham, survived because his rucksack and body armour took the force of the blast.

He was part of a reconnaissance troop in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in February, when the incident happened.

The Ministry of Defence said he could be considered for the Victoria Cross.

A spokesman said L/Cpl Croucher's comrades had made a citation to their commanding officer and officers were now considering whether to put his name forward for the honour.

L/Cpl Croucher, a member of 40 Commando, had been searching a compound south of Sangin which was suspected as being used for making bombs to attack British and Afghan troops.

When a Taleban booby-trap grenade was tripped, L/Cpl Croucher jumped on to the device to absorb the force of the explosion with his backpack as his comrades dived for cover.

The blast blew his rucksack more than 30ft away but he remarkably suffered only severe shock and a bloodied nose in the incident.

 

[fufu]

That
guy
is
the
fucking
man.

And a good example of a soldier.

 

[maniclion]

He's one lucky sob that his rucksack save his life, if I were him I'd have a some underwear made out of whats left of that sack.....

 

[Rubes]

what fufu said

 

[IceDragon]

That is one brave soldier. Holy shit...

If he was here, I'd get him a beer. About time they started getting some respect for the job they do, especially above and beyond their duty.

 

[Little Wing]

wow.

 

[Pound for Pound]

It's amazing to hear things like that. A WWII vet recently gave a small talk at my school and started to recount a similar incident when a fellow soldier jumped on a live grenade to save those around him--he about broke down. He then said that when you're out on the field it's not about fighting for your country, it's about camaraderie. You fight for your brothers around you.

I love hearing war stories.