Suspended animation in fiction which is indistinguishable from death. In American fiction, the first story to deal with suspended animation is the tale of Rip Van Winkle, a short story by American author Washington Irving published in 1819 as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. In the story, a British subject in the American colonies wanders into the Catskill Mountains in the years before the American Revolutionary War, and finds a group of fairies, whose moonshine he drinks. He then falls asleep for 20 years, and returns to his village in what is now the United States, finding his home town
Archie Van Winkle from active duty on July 16, 1951 and was attached to the 10th Infantry Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, in Seattle. President Harry S. Truman presented Van Winkle with the Medal of Honor during ceremonies at the White House on February 6, 1952. The following day he was sworn in as a second lieutenant by General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., Commandant of the Marine Corps, having qualified under the "meritorious noncommissioned officer" program. Later recalled to active duty, Van Winkle attended Basic School at Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia, from November 1952 to May 1953. First Lieutenant Van Winkle completed