Two Men Largely Responsible for Placing Kevlar in Protective Clothing
Getting Kevlar placed in protective clothing resulted mainly from the work of Lester Shubin and Nicholas Montanarelli. Mr. Shubin was educated in chemistry. He worked for the United States Army in the 1970s. At the time, Mr. Montanarelli was an Army project director. He was trained in engineering and psychology.
The two Americans were working at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. They were searching for a way to protect people in public life from gunfire. Mr. Montanarelli knew about DuPont’s recently developed fiber, and the two men decided to test it.
The men fired handguns at several materials protected by Kevlar. The material changed the shape of the bullets. It seemed a good candidate to help defend police officers and soldiers.
Mr. Shubin was able to gain financial help for a field experiment. Thousands of police officers in many cities began to wear the vests. But Mr. Montanarelli said it was difficult to get companies to make them. The companies feared legal action if the vests should fail.
Then came December 1975. A gunman shot at a policeman in Seattle, Washington. One bullet hit the officer’s hand. But a bullet fired very close to the policeman struck his chest.
The officer survived. The bullet did not enter his body. He felt good enough to protest being kept in a hospital that night to make sure all was well. The incident helped get manufacturers to stop worrying about legal action. They began making the vests.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25