Hit, but not out of the firefight-What Happens

I do not know about true grit, I was scared just about to the point of the pucker factor failing me and my pants getting dirty from another type of grit. No matter how scared, I knew fighting was better than giving up each time. Maybe it was because of my training and practice, and that kicked in before I even realized I was scared. So, I reverted to my training and to my will to fight and not give up and that helped even though I was scared. Is that grit? I do not think so, I think it is just doing what ou can to make sure you get home to see the wife and kids again. Anyway, chances are, that is not what they meant when John Wayne played the part of Rooster Cogburn in the movie True Grit.

In fact, I never want to find myself in any situations like those again, but they happen now and again, as do others that could become as bad but are more often cooled down before they get that bad. If one does get that bad again though, I hope I never give up in a situation like that. Back then, I also had hoped I would never again face another situation like that but I certainly have faced some more of them over the years. I try to do the right thing each time and de-escalate a situation and if it gets worse I try to deal with as I know I should.

I just wish things like that would stop happening involving me but as recently as a few months ago I had to intervene on behalf of a man, woman and their 9 or 10 year old daughter when they were accosted by a jerk. I hosed him with pepper spray and he finally got the idea it was better to leave than hang around. I let him leave, had the husband call the police and got him arrested by them; I was out in Phoenix at the time on an assignment for work.

I have a black cloud that follows me around. Although it has made for an interesting life, it would be okay by me if I got a little more sunshine now that I am older. I am getting on in years, I suppose much as was Rooster Cogburn. Whether or not I have grit, I can tell you this, that kind of thing is 'No Country For Old Men' and I am getting there in years (I'll be retiring this year or next).

One other thing, about me and restraint. I think that it was more uncertainty than restraint that I showed in taking the warning shot. I was very young, pretty new as a border patrol agent, and the guy was unarmed but had already hurt me and was urging others to "kill him" - the him being me. I saw the other coming, he started to approach me too, from a fairly close distance, I was scaredfor my life very literally, and I fired a round that seemd to actually part his hair as it whoosed up as the bullet or muzzle blast passed over his head. It would have been a lot more intelligent of me had I shot him, but a lot harder to live with if I had done so. As it was it turned out okay and I was not tried before a jury of what would have been his peers. Still though, I could have been killed had he charged me at that point and gotten hold of my revolver. Restraint - nope; just not sure of what to do because he was unarmed but still posed a deadly threat to me. I know better now how to assess and act in such a situation.

Thanks for the compliment, it is appreciated.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
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I say you showed some pretty big guts. Obviously your survival instincts kicked in but you still did very well. At least thats my opinion.
 
Trooper stopped a car about a mile from here. Approacing the car his "spidey sense" tingled and he reached for his weapon. Firefight ensued. he dove for cover and shot the back window out of a Camero, which sped off. He jumped back into hisd cruiser and it stalled; radiator shot out. Jumped into a passing turnpike truck, driver of which saw the fight and crossed the median, u-turn. Trooper discovered his thigh was "sticky". Took one round through and through; continued pursuit until Camero crashed and another juristicton took over.

Back on active duty 10 days later.

Bob
 
Thats awesome that the pickup guy turned to help him out. There was a fight in Boston between a LEO and Meth criminal or PCP. A LEO was fighting a Methed out guy(serious wrestling the guys going for his gun, its on youtube.) NO ONE WOULD HELP HIM:(. If I ever saw a LEO in any serious trouble, I would rush to help them. Another story of not feeling it (the shot/s) until after the intial exchange. Im going to convince myself if Im not incapacitated immediatley, I probably won't die at least not on the spot. I will keep fighting for survival. I think this is a good mindset to have, KEEP your body going.
 
While being motivated and determined to keep fighting regardless of being shot there's a lot to the effects of wounds that we're still learning about. Even Mas Ayoob says in his book "The Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery" that many people who were stopped by one shot which didn't strike the CNS "were hard fighters, impervious to fear, and it is most unlikely that a psychological dread of being shot caused them to faint". He goes on to explain different theories as to why even those people were stopped.

I state this not to show people not to be determined and confident to keep going and to win a fight but rather to show that it's much more complicated than many think and still a lot that we don't know about the subject.
 
Agreed. I say I would keep going but you never know. Thats the mindset I would have but so many factors are at play. Who knows until it happens?
 
Force Under Pressure: How Cops Live and Why They Die, by Lawrence N. Blum, Ph.D., police psychologist, might be a book which would interest you.

Dr Blum offers a LE seminar called I'm Shot in which he not only discusses situations where cops were seriously injured and survived shooting situations, but he invites such cops to be guest speakers at his seminar. Although the seminars are LE-only type events, his book contains related interesting material covered in the seminar.

You might consider looking for the book in paper or e-book format online if this subject interests you. I've attended his seminar a couple of times and have listened to several of his guest speakers who have survived serious, life-threatening injuries during such situations.
 
I never got shot in Iraq, but I was involved in a firefight after suffering a broken tailbone, 5 blown discs in my spine and a mild concussion. The adrenaline rush got me through the fight, but once all was over I could barely move.
 
My cousin was target practicing with some buddies and caught a ricochet 22 bullet in the calf of his leg. He was about seventeen YO. He described to me how much it hurt (burning sensation); and, he couldn’t walk on that leg for several weeks. It was a real mess.

So, I learned from his experience that a 22 bullet can do lots of damage. He was out of commission instantly and for a long time didn't have any desire to go shooting again.
 
Some lecture that I heard (maybe a podcast?) had the best advice for mindset that I've heard:
If you are alive enough to know that you've been shot, then you are also alive enough to keep fighting.
 
^+1000 That is exactly my view on the subject. I will not stop fighting until physically incapable of it. That is my mindset, however I cannot say what I would do since I have never been in a SD situation. I will keep my mindset though.
 
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