Bikewer
Interfector Viris Spurii
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St. Louis, Mo
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I witnessed several grenade-related incidents when I was in the army.
In basic, one of the trainees had literally missed the classroom training as he was on KP. So, he didn't know that the "new" grenades didn't smoke or make noise when the arming lever was lifted. Waiting his turn to throw, he let the lever up, then pushed it back down. Fortunately, the training NCO just caught the movement and grabbed the thing and tossed it over the edge of the barricade...
In Germany we were still training with the old WWII-vintage "Pineapple" grenade. The range was pretty crude; a blown-up field and some bunkers made of railroad ties. Everyone was supposed to duck completely behind the barricade at each throw, but the range officer wanted to watch.... I could see him with his head clearly visible in the port. One guy had a rather short throw, and a piece of shrapnel blew splinters off the barricade, inches from the captain's face..... He remained out of sight for the rest of the day....
Finally, on the M79 grenade launcher range, the guys fired three rounds each, one kneeling behind a barricade. One guy let the muzzle of the gun get below the barricade, and the grenade whacked it, spinning up into the air and then landing right in front of the trooper, the range officer, and a sergeant. Fortunately, it didn't arm..... (They are supposed to travel 25 yards downrange before arming.)
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