Falling on a grenade

Falling on a grenade refers to the act of laying on top of a live hand grenade, usually with the intention of saving others nearby.

Few soldiers have given this last full measure of devotion. For example, in World War II at Bougainville in the South Pacific, Marine Sergeant Herbert J. Thomas, Jr. deliberately fell on a grenade, killing himself and saving his fellow soldiers. Another more recent example is United States Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor, who died on September 29, 2006 in Iraq after falling on a grenade. On Dec. 4, 2006 in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 19 year old U.S. Army Spc. Ross A. McGinnis was killed instantly when he used his body to smother a grenade, saving the lives of four fellow soldiers.

Such an act can be survivable - it's recommended to place a helmet directly over the grenade, and then lay on top of the helmet. Most grenades only have a small explosive content, and the fragments they throw are weak enough to be contained by a modern PASGT helmet. However, at least one American soldier has died attempting to perform this, when the large baseplug of a grenade penetrated the helmet.

US Marine Corporal Jason Dunham died on April 22nd, 2004 from wounds sustained April 14th in an attempt to save fellow Marines and was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions. He is the subject of The Gift of Valor, a book by Michael M. Phillips. This action has been used as a plot device in war stories. For example, in an episode of the television show M*A*S*H, Sergeant Rizzo plays a joke on the haughty Charles Winchester by dropping a rubber grenade on the floor. Much to Rizzo's surprise, Winchester promptly falls on the grenade.

The volitional act of giving up one's life to save others also comes up in philosophy or evolutionary psychology when discussing concepts such as altruism and egoism.