Darnold’s left arm suddenly feels like it has grown about ten sizes. It’s numb and throbbing. “I’m hit!” he yells. “Shut the fuck up!” Kocher shouts. “You haven’t been hit.” Kocher can see just by the way he’s holding his arm that he is hit. But he wants him to believe he isn’t so he’ll focus on driving. For a moment, Kocher’s power of suggestion works so well, Darnold not only keeps driving, he continues simultaneously firing his M-4 rifle out the side of the Humvee. Then Darnold wavers. “I am hit!” he insists. “Okay, you’re hit, Darnold,” Kocher concedes. “We’re gonna fix it. Keep driving.”
