Lester Shubin Dies at 84; Used Kevlar in Vests, Saving Lives [HERO]

New York Times ^ | December 2, 2009 | Douglas Martin

[Silly]

Lester Shubin, a government scientist who saw the potential of using Kevlar to strengthen bullet-resistant vests for the police, an advance that has saved the lives of more than 3,000 officers, died Nov. 20 at his home in Fairfax, Va. He was 84.

The cause was a heart attack, his son, Harry, said.

Working with the Army in the early 1970s, Mr. Shubin helped develop the first vests made of Kevlar, an extraordinarily strong fabric invented by the DuPont Company. At the time he was a program manager with the National Institute of Justice, an arm of the United States Justice Department that does research and development on law enforcement matters.

[Silly]

A hero who saw how to turn a unique invention into a lifesaver.

[Silly]

One of the 3,000 was David Schaefer, a police officer in Bettendorf, Iowa. His wife, Terri, bought him his vest in June 1977 as an early Christmas present. She tried to buy it on a layaway plan at $20 a month.

“Take it with you — you never know what might happen between now and Christmas,” a store clerk said, The New York Times reported.

Several months later, Mr. Schaefer was shot in the stomach from three feet. He suffered a bruise.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[packrat35]

In another project at the institute, Mr. Shubin helped prove that dogs could be trained to sniff out drugs and explosives. He also helped develop bullet-resistant armor for dogs.

As an employee of Melpar Inc., he helped develop a container to quarantine astronauts after they had returned from the moon. It was Mr. Shubin’s idea to convert a standard Airstream trailer for this use, his son said.

A very smart man!