Killed in Action-Struck by Lightning: A Vietnam Combat Medic's Story

Struck by lightning, evacuated from the observation post by helicopter, taken from the chopper, placed in a body bag, and put in the morgue some eighteen hours later...

"I saw fluorescent tubes in pastel colors in a tunnel with a bright light at the end. Suddenly it got dark...I reached in my pants pocket and felt my knife and I cut a hole in the tarp so I could sit up. Around me were many litters with body bags on them just like mine. I didn't know if I was in enemy or friendly hands. I was in shock. I had always been so very cognizant of my surroundings and now I was in a place I could not identify and had no idea of how or why I was here.

"After a while, maybe twenty or thirty minutes, a man came in from behind me and said, 'Whoa, what's your problem, son?' I said that I had no idea but perhaps I had had a relapse of malaria or just had gotten ill. He said he would be 'right back.' When he returned I was in no way prepared for the shock he would give me. He handed me the body tag and written on it was, 'Killed in action - struck by lightning.' He asked me how I was and I replied, 'I guess I'm fine.' That was the biggest mistake of my life."

One who is struck by lightning will never be "fine," and the worst part is no one believes you.

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