Remnants From War: Bible with a Bullet Hole
April 12, 2011
Posted in 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, Everytown USA, Jack Fulk, Vietnam War
Tags: 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, Everytown USA, Jack Fulk, Vietnam War
I am continually fascinated by artifacts from wars past, whether it be swords, uniforms, flags … whatever. One of the most interesting pieces I’ve personally come across is a Bible from the Vietnam War.
Infantryman Jack Fulk worked the midland jungles as a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. “We were stationed in the Central Highlands, Pleiku Province,” he said. “Most often, we operated right up against the Cambodian border. I’m not sure what other guys had, but I was only in country about a month and had already been in four or five serious firefights.”
An early March morning in 1967 would change Fulk’s life forever. His unit was on a search and destroy mission when the tables were quickly turned. Company A was ambushed. “They were NVA (North Vietnamese Army) regulars, firing AK-47s, a single shot at a time,” he said. “I had already been shot in the ass. Next, they hit me in the left foot. It basically tore off the entire top of my left foot.
“The third bullet hit me in the left leg, about half way up my shin. It ripped a two and a half-inch hole clean through. It just blew the bone and everything else out. I remember seeing my lower leg flop like a rag doll. With no bone left from the middle of the shin down, it was just loose.
“The next shell blew through my left arm, hitting me square in the chest. The impact lifted me clear off the ground and threw me back several feet.
“I could hear one of them say something. I couldn’t understand, but am sure that it was something like, ‘I got him!’ or ‘He’s dead!’ …Those last three shots hit me all within about three or four minutes.”
Fulk was alive, but only by the grace of God. “Just a few days ago, the day before we went out, the chaplain visited us at firebase and was handing out pocket-sized New Testaments,” he continued. “I had taken one and put it in my left shirt pocket, not thinking much about it. When that last bullet went through my arm, it hit me right over my heart. That little Bible blocked the bullet. It still threw me back and hurt like hell, but that pocket New Testament had taken the full impact of that shell. … I know that it saved my life.”
Miraculously, Fulk survived. Following a two-year hospital stay, he returned to society to live a rich full life.
I not only saw this Bible, I held it. I put my finger in the bullet hole. It’s the real deal. Not surprising, Fulk always keeps this Bible with a bullet hole close by.
Hello
I hope all is well
I am trying to get in touch with Mr. Fulk or someone from his family to get these images in hi res.
I am a Photo Editor in NYC and we are doing an article on Bibles that saved lives. Any help is very very appreciated.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
212-251-8126
Sincerely,
Loraine Pavich