Falling on a grenade

Falling on a grenade refers to the deliberate act of using one's body to cover a live time-fused hand grenade, absorbing the explosion and fragmentation in an effort to save the lives of others nearby. Since this is almost universally fatal, it is considered an especially conspicuous and selfless act of individual sacrifice in wartime; in United States military history, more citations for the Medal of Honor have been awarded for falling on grenades to save comrades than any other single act.

Such an act can be survivable: In World War II Jack Lucas, in the Battle of Iwo Jima, placed two grenades under his steel M1 Helmet and himself before they exploded. Lucas lived, but spent the rest of his life with over 200 pieces of shrapnel in his body. In 2008 near Sangin in Afghanistan Matt Croucher used his rucksack to pin the grenade to the floor, and that and his body armor absorbed the majority of the blast. Despite these rare instances, however, the odds of survival are extremely slim. US Marine Corporal Jason Dunham died on April 22, 2004 from wounds sustained on April 14 attempting to use his PASGT helmet to shield himself and others from a grenade explosion.^[1]

This action has been used as a plot device in war stories. For example, in an episode of the television show M*A*S*H, Luther Rizzo plays a joke on Charles Winchester by dropping a dummy grenade on the floor, but to Rizzo's surprise, Winchester promptly falls on the grenade to save Rizzo's life, only later to realize the grenade was fake.

The volitional act of giving up one's life to save others also comes up in philosophy or evolutionary psychology when discussing concepts such as altruism and egoism.^[2]

"Falling on a grenade" is also used colloquially in non-military contexts to indicate individual acceptance of a personally harmful or sacrificial task in an effort to protect a larger group; during a scandal, corporate leaders or politicians who attempt to draw negative attention away from their company or party by pleading guilt, publicly admitting culpability and drawing condemnation on themselves (at the cost of their freedom or career) are often said to have "fallen on a grenade".

Notable examples

• On December 19, 1941 at the Battle of Hong Kong, Canadian Army Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn jumped on a grenade, sacrificing himself to save his men. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
• On November 7, 1943 at Bougainville, Marine Sergeant Herbert J. Thomas, Jr deliberately fell on a grenade, sacrificing himself protecting nearby Marines.
• On September 1, 1950, near Yongsan, Korea, U.S. Army Private First Class David M. Smith noticed an enemy grenade lobbed into his company's emplacement. Pfc. Smith shouted a warning to his comrades and, fully aware of the odds against him, flung himself upon it. Although mortally wounded in this display of valor, his act saved 5 men from injury or death.
• On February 11, 1954, IDF private Nathan Elbaz was disarming grenades when he noticed one of the grenade's safeties had slipped. He grabbed the grenade and ran from the tent but realized he wouldn't be able to throw the grenade away without harming some of his friends, so he smothered the explosion with his body.^[3]
• On September 23, 1971, a M35 2½ ton cargo truck was ambushed by a squad of NVA soldiers somewhere in An Khê District. At one point during the firefight, an NVA threw a grenade into the truck's box. 21-year-old Specialist Four Larry G. Dahl was the only occupant who heard the grenade land into the truck. Realizing that there was not sufficient time to return it, he immediately threw himself on top of the grenade, saving his comrades lives but at the cost of his own. Dahl was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
• On April 14, 2004, near Husaybah, Iraq Jason Dunham used his body and helmet to shield others from a grenade explosion - but died shortly afterward from his injuries.
• On July 26, 2006, Roi Klein, during the Battle of Bint Jbeil jumped on a grenade thrown into the house where Klein and his unit were present and stopped the explosion with his body.
• On September 29, 2006 in Iraq, United States Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor, died after falling on a grenade.[1]
• On Dec. 4, 2006 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 19 year old U.S. Army Spc. Ross A. McGinnis was killed instantly when he used his body to smother a grenade, saving the lives of four nearby soldiers.
• In 2008 near Sangin in Afghanistan Matthew Croucher used his body and rucksack to pin a grenade to the floor.

References