Marine Fighting in the Gulf Takes Out an Afterlife Policy

At least one American fighting in the Persian Gulf appears to be serious about the words, “Never say die!”

According to the American Cryonics Society, a 34-year-old Marine Corps captain made arrangements to be placed in cryonic suspension in the event of his death in Operation Desert Storm. Cryonicists freeze the dead in hopes that science will find a way to revive them in the future.

Jim Yount, secretary of the Cupertino, Calif.-based society, said the captain made suspension arrangements with the group Dec. 6, shortly before he was transferred to the Persian Gulf. Yount declined to provide the Marine’s name or unit, citing privacy concerns. The officer pledged the proceeds of a life insurance policy to cover the $150,000 cost of suspension and long-term storage, according to the society.

Yount conceded that his group would be hard-pressed to perform a suspension--which requires that body temperature be lowered quickly to minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit--unless the wounded soldier was transferred to a U.S. medical facility before dying. But, he added, “we were not surprised at the captain’s request. What does surprise us is that of 500,000 U.S. servicemen and women, only one has made such arrangements.”