I went to see 'Top Gun: Maverick' with my Dad and one of his other wounded veteran buddies, Johnny (I sometimes catch myself calling him Uncle Johnny), who was a pilot for the U.S. Navy. After the movie, we went back to the house and Dad and Johnny cracked open some beers, and Johnny told me the most insane story I have ever heard and I just gotta share it. During a dogfight with a Talib who stole a fighter jet in 2001, Johnny's F-14 Tomcat was hit, the engines shut down and the jet was ablaze. After a few minutes of free-fall, the jet crashed into the ocean. Johnny tried to use his ejector seat, but it didn't go off right. So, as the cockpit was filling with smoke and water, he opened the shield and bailed. After a few minutes, the F-14 sank. Johnny's right leg was all kinds of destroyed. His tibia and fibula were both broken, uh, shattered and sticking out of his leg. You know, nothing too severe (sarcasm). The crew on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (the aircraft carrier he was stationed on) spent three hours trying to find him. And by the time the rescue helicopters found Johnny, he was floating there using a tail fin as a makeshift raft and he had used his belt as a tourniquet. Johnny's leg was amputated, he was fitted for and had a prosthetic leg made, discharged with benefits, and was sent home to his wife and to meet his newborn daughter. This dude is nothing short of lucky!
