Jack L. was born in 1928 in North Carolina, and after the U.S. entered World War II, he wanted to serve his country.
So, he forged his mother’s signature to join the Marines.
When the Marine Corps realized he was underage he was sent to Hawaii to be a truck driver.
But Jack didn’t want to sit out the war.
Instead, Jack hid aboard the USS Deuel as it headed toward Iwo Jima. Once he was discovered aboard the ship, he was allowed to join the Marine unit.
When the Marines landed on Iwo-Jima, Jack joined as a rifleman with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division.
During his second day in combat, Jack was in a trench with three fellow Marines when two grenades landed nearby.
Jack threw himself on one grenade and pulled the other one underneath his body.
Seconds later one of the grenades exploded throwing Jack in the air.
When he landed on the ground his fellow Marines believed he was dead. So, they left the trench to continue fighting. Jack didn’t lose consciousness but was unable to speak.
Soon after, another Marine was passing by and noticed that Jack was alive.
He called for a Navy Corpsman who quickly came to Jack’s aid.
Jack was carried to the beach where he waited until nightfall to be evacuated to a hospital ship.
He underwent 26 surgeries to remove shrapnel from his body and eventually made a shocking recovery.
Eight months after the battle, President Truman presented Jack with the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Jack was saved by a fellow Marine who didn’t leave his fallen comrade behind.
And even though you might not be a soldier, there could come a point in your life when you are faced with the tough decision of leaving someone behind.
This is a decision that no one would want to be forced to make. That said, here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re ever faced with this situation.
No return:
If you are bugging out or leaving your house, it means things are very bad, and you should assume you aren’t coming back.
(Maybe you’re heading to your secondary bugout location, or somewhere else entirely)
Regardless of where you’re headed, if the situation is severe enough that you need to leave your home, you likely can’t safely leave anyone behind.
Additionally, the idea of going for help and returning is often a bad one.
The chances of getting back in time and finding the person safe are not good. So, if you are bugging out, take everyone with you.
Injuries:
If you bug out with all your gear and your family, chances are obstacles or issues will crop up.
Maybe someone in your group breaks an ankle or is too weary to continue with the group.
As I mentioned before, if you are bugging out it’s because you have no choice.
Even worse, if you are bugging out there is a chance that whatever you are fleeing could be following you.
Whether it’s a flood or a wildfire you might not have a choice but to stay ahead of it.
In this case, leaving a person behind would likely be a death sentence, and keeping your entire group behind for one person could put everyone in danger.
This is why you definitely want to have a good medical kit as part of your bug out gear.
Who is in your group?:
Perhaps you have relatives or neighbors you plan on bugging out with during a disaster.
There is nothing wrong with this.
But you need to consider if any of these folks might be unable to bug out because of their age or health issues.
This is where the moral dilemma will come into play.
If you are with your neighbor who you’ve been friends with all your life would you be willing to risk your family’s life to move as slow as your neighbor?
When it comes to the hard decision of leaving someone behind, there are many “what-ifs” scenarios you could think through.
I can’t give you the perfect answer or tell you exactly what to do.
What I can tell you is, regardless of your preparations, you must have at least one (preferably more) bugout locations that you can move to if things to sideways at home.
