Would You Pass Up Millions in Royalties If It Saved Lives?
This is ammonium nitrate in prill form. The photo was taken in Afghanistan, and shared with me by the Joint IED Defeat Organization in Washington, DC. Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer, but also serves as an oxidizer in fuel-oxidizer explosives commonly used by the commercial blasting and mining industry. Tim McVeigh used it too. So did Anders Breivik. The Taliban is quite fond of it as well.
Recently, an American scientist at Sandia National Laboratory got sick and tired of seeing young servicemembers killed and maimed with it. So, he did some thinking. Then some testing. Before long he had an ingenious solution to a problem that bedeviled the Department of Defense for over a decade.
His invention could become the global standard, and if he patented his work and took even the most modest of royalties he would stand to make millions of dollars in short order. But he refused. Want to know why? Doing so would take time; and in the interim, more young Americans would certainly die. He wanted to get his invention tested and fielded as quickly as possible. That way, some more lives might be spared. In a profit-driven world, some follow a different internal compass.
This man deserves some recognition. Perhaps a medal, and maybe a good seat at the next State of the Union Address. When was the last time you met a true patriot and global humanitarian? I'd like to introduce you to Kevin Fleming.
Soon, at NYT At War.