Now here’s a man who truly understood the spirit of selflessness in the face of great danger. A strong and beautiful soul.
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On March 23, 1966, in an accident that is now known as the Palomares incident, a B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a refueling tanker in Spain, and one of its nuclear weapons dropped into the sea.
As a U.S. Navy salvage team worked to recover the bomb, the towing line broke, sending a heavy steel pipe shooting toward the team — and in an incredible act of heroism, diver Carl Brashear threw himself in front of his men, taking the pipe in the leg.
Brashear not only survived, but he overcame extraordinary obstacles to get himself recertified as a master diver even though his leg had been removed, making him the first amputee diver in Navy history. Brashear was motivated by his beliefs that “It’s not a sin to get knocked down; it’s a sin to stay down” and “I ain’t going to let nobody steal my dream.”
For his service in helping to retrieve the bomb, Brashear was later awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the highest navy award for non-combat heroism.
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