On the night of Dec. 20, 1989, Army Ranger SSG Louis Olivera leaped out of a C-130 transport 600 feet over the Rio Hato airstrip during the Panama invasion.
As he crashed through the jungle canopy, he became entangled onto a power line, only 100 yards from enemy barracks. After he freed himself, he began to carefully make his way to his RV point until he was ambushed by two Panamanian soldiers.
From a range of 50 feet, Olivera was hit square in the chest by two AK47 bullets. One bullet tore through two ribs and punctured his right lung. The other bullet severed the muscle above his right collar bone.
Olivera was knocked onto his back. The Panamanians approached, began rifling through his pockets for maps and documents, and discovered that he was dazed but still alive.
At point-blank range, one Panamanian soldier fired at Olivera`s head. The bullet hit the lip of his kevlar helmet, tore through the 19 layers of fibers and resin, and was deflected just enough that it didn`t kill him outright.
Instead, the bullet struck Olivera above the left eye, fractured his skull, tore off a major chunk of the skin on his skull, and glanced off, knocking him unconscious.
The two Panamanian troopers left him for dead, tagging him with a black bandana that was the signature of a ''kill''.
The bullet to the head just happened to be a tracer round, and the heat of the burning chemical cauterized the ruptured blood vessels as the bullet passed through muscle and flesh.
Olivera regained consciousness the following morning and used his radio to call for help and was eventually rescued.
At the aid station, a chaplain offered Olivera last rites. ''No, I don`t think I need that. I`m doing just fine, really,'' Olivera mumbled.
On Dec. 22, Gen. Carl Vuono pinned the Purple Heart on the wounded Olivera. Vuono also pinned the Purple Heart that day on another soldier who fell by heat exhaustion. (that's not a joke). #rltw #stayzero #zerofoxtrot