Boy, this says just about everything that needs to be said, doesn’t it? From Newsday, Jan. 10:
Serviceman back from Iraq hit, dragged by cars
NEW MILFORD, N.J. – A U.S. Army specialist who had just returned from Iraq was hit by a car as he walked toward his grandmother’s house, then was dragged for a half-mile by another vehicle.
“It’s amazing he’s still alive,” New Milford Police Lt. Michael Burns said.
Andrew Rippe was crossing a road during a downpour around 6:30 a.m. Monday when he was struck by the first vehicle, which pushed him to the ground and into the path of the oncoming car, officials said.
In that second car, driver Roslyn Gottlieb said she heard a thump but figured it was a piece of a cardboard under her car and kept driving to a convenience store for a cup of coffee.
When she pulled up at the store, Michael Obertlik noticed Rippe trapped under the car.
“My friend thought it was a dummy, but I said, ‘That’s a real person. The man is still breathing,’ ” Obertlik told The Record of Bergen County.
Rescue workers inflated air bags to take the car off Rippe, 25, who had a broken leg and had lost skin.
Rippe was in serious condition at Hackensack University Medical Center on Monday.
Police Chief Frank Papapietro said yesterday that no charges had been filed, but his department was still investigating. “It appears just to be a horrible accident at this point,” he said.
See more reasons WHY WE FIGHT.
