Trio of Personal Life-Threating Experiences - Time Out #487

 I hope each of you have kept your most important New Year's resolutions, and 2025 provides many good things for you and yours.

     How about 3 eye-opening situations I experienced as a younger person? In my mind, each one of this trio of events was a near-death experience for me. Restated, I absolutely thought I was going to die, when I was going through each traumatic event.   

     Reading public, please grab firmly on the closest piece of furniture, as I reveal how each of my 3 terrifying situations happened.  

      1) Spring, 1966. I had borrowed a fraternity brother's car during my freshman year, 2nd semester at Oklahoma State. I had picked up my girlfriend from her college campus in Ada on her birthday. We were caught in a heavy thunderstorm east of Midwest City, driving west on I-40. My friend's car had worn bald rear tires, and he had disconnected his speedometer, so I didn't know how fast I was driving. As fate would have it, the automobile I was driving began hydroplaning down the inside westbound highway lane. Quickly, I lost control of the vehicle. My girlfriend began screaming very loud. My entire life flashed inside my head, and everything seemed to be displayed across my forehead. The car propelled across the mud-filled median separating the 4-lanes of concrete. Our vehicle struck a station-wagon car in the inside lane. heading east at a high rate of speed. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured which was incredibly fortunate. Both vehicles were total losses, but there were no bad human injuries.   

     2) Fall, 1966. I was involved in another major car accident, also demolishing my vehicle.  Again, the same girlfriend was my passenger. Wow! While driving south on US 177, northside traveling back into Our Town, I collided with the rear of another car. The vehicle I hit was parked in the middle of the highway, with all its lights off. I was traveling over 50 mph. After I hit the car, 2 more cars hit me from the back. Again, even though 4 separate vehicles were involved in major accident, no one was seriously injured. Yes, my lady friend once again screamed loudly several times!  As I saw the other car in front of me and knew I was going to hit it, I thought I was not going to survive the impact. Once again, it was another out-of-the-body experience for me, absolutely thinking I was not going to make it out alive. 

     3) Spring 1970. While I was on advanced individual training during active duty with the U.S. Army. I was stationed at Ft. Polk, LA. Two army companies (about 450 soldiers) were engaged in night fire training with large M-50 machine guns. I was one of the last soldiers to fire the big weapon that evening. Because of a malfunction with the training machinegun, I was injured when the weapon misfired during total darkness on the huge firing range. I was struck on my lower neck, when the ammunition round misfired. Because it was dark, when the hot steel struck me, I thought I was going to die from a large bullet wound. As it turned out, I received a severe burn from the hot shell casing, while the live bullet traveled safely out the barrel of the machinegun and harmed no one. My burned neck wound was covered with blood. The military aid vehicle transported me 9 miles to the base hospital, where I received immediate treatment, including a LARGE bandage.

     So, loyal readers, that's my story of my 3 near-death experiences, long, long ago. No surprises here to me.  I vividly remember each of these incredible experiences. These events have been firmly fixed in my mind's eye.