For Dave Roever it was late 1968 when he found himself in Vietnam for the first time serving with the United States as a member of the elite Brown Water Black Beret. He served in the Mekong Delta area until July 26, 1969 when he was severely wounded. As the boat he was riding in while looking for the enemy came around the corner, a sniper bullet pierced his hand and went right through the phosphorous grenade that he had raised within six inches of his head.
The grenade exploded and blew up the boat. On fire, he laid face down in the river, part of his head blown off and his body severely damaged. Large amounts of his skin were floating around him as he was rescued from the burning water. Several of his team lost their lives that day.
As they carried him to the helicopter the burning phosphorous caused him to burn right though the stretcher and he landed right on his head as he fell to the ground. He was having a really bad day.
Later, en route to the medical hospital, the doctors on the helicopter thought he had died, so they took his dog tag and got ready to pound it between his teeth, indicating his death. He thought to himself, “This is going to hurt.” Suddenly Dave opened his eyes and it so scared the helicopter crew that they almost crashed. He said, “I knew we were going to crash that day and I would be the only one to live.”
(These facts are associated with the testimony of Dave Roever.)