The Story behind The Photo iPod saves Soldiers life(?)
April 06, 2007
UPDATE: According to HavanaLion.com, the iPod did not actually save the soldier's life - it was in fact the vest he was wearing. The updated tale is described at Digg.com as the "Update to iPod saves Soldiers life. I talked to Kevin Garrad this afternoon and here's the story firsthand: The armor stopped the bullet. The iPod was how Kevin Garrad found out he was shot. This is the real story of what happened to the iPod..." - you can check out these updates here and here.
Every so often, a photo pops up online that blows quite a few people away, that you just can’t help but try and find out more of the story behind it. This is one of those times. His name is Kevin Garrad, and his story is about how his iPod saved his life.
22-year-old, Sgt. Kevin Garrad is a soldier of the 3rd Infantry Division, and was stationed at the home of the division, at Fort Stewart in Georgia. He is currently in Iraq, serving his country. His father, Matthew Garrad, is a UK police veteran, who relocated his family to the United States on September 10, 2001, who became a real estate agent in Savannah, Georgia.
Not much information is readily available online regarding the beginning of Kevin’s military career. It is clear that he joined the army at some point following the relocation to Georgia from the UK.
Kevin joined the US Army, and became a specialist infantryman, and was initially stationed at Fort Stewart since approximately 2004. Garrad’s first mention in online media was from a San Francisco Chronicle article initially published on June 13, 2005.
From helping ordinary everyday Iraqi folks, through to patrolling the streets, hunting down weapons and secret munitions was also one of the tasks assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division while over there.
The above-mentioned SFC article focused on soldiers searching for hidden munitions along the Tigris River. "Even if we don’t find anything, it’s more of a deterrent to let them know we’re searching," Garrad is quoted as saying.
As part of his duties, Garrad would partake in patrolling the Iraqi streets of Tikrit. On this particular day, he rounded a corner and found himself face to face with an insurgent armed with a Kalashnikov – otherwise known as the Russian-made AK-47. The two were only a few feet away from each other. It’s reported that the insurgent got a shot off, practically shooting Garrad at near point-blank range with a 7.62 mm round.
Initially the event was reported as being a frantic exchange of gunfire between Garrad and the insurgent, though the patrol engaged the enemy in a short gunfire exchange, which resulted in the death of the insurgent.
One would immediately think that the body armor would have protected him from such a shot. While it’s true that it adds some protection to the troop wearing the armor, there are limitations to its capability.
Taking a point-blank shot from an AK-47 could probably be conceived as not the nicest experience in the world. In fact, a round from the gun at point-blank does have a high probability of actually penetrating the Interceptor body armor vests commonly used by US troops.
In Garrad’s case, this almost could have been the case, save for one factor – he had brought his iPod along for the patrol, and received a direct hit from the bullet. The impact on the music player slowed the bullet’s velocity to the point that it wouldn’t penetrate the armor.
The iPod in question was an older, and thicker 20GB model, that had been previously manufactured and distributed by HP (hence the model sharing both the Apple and HP logos). The thickness of this model most likely served a big part in slowing down the bullet.
Sgt. Kevin Garrad was unharmed from the incident. Had it not been for his iPod, the situation could have been fatal.
The photos first surfaced on Flickr. When the images first hit popularity on social bookmarking sites, such as digg.com, many people began commenting that Apple should issue this guy a replacement. According to an article at Wired.com, it’s believed that some staff members from Apple have come across the images, and the article speculates that they could send out a replacement to Sgt. Garrad.
It was later revealed by the original poster at Flickr, that an e-mail had been sent by an engineer at Apple, and chances of getting a replacement are good. Let’s hope so. Maybe they would be nice enough to get him a bullet proof iPod case as well, as featured over at Gizmodo.
