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'It was bizarre,' says disabled vet shot while guarding sea turtle nest

Disabled combat veteran Stan Pannaman had every reason to think that surviving a bomb blast during the Vietnam War might be his closest brush with death.

But five decades later the 72-year-old ex-Marine got another scare on a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea beach when he was shot and wounded with his own gun while volunteering to protect sea turtle nests, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

"It was bizarre, for lack of another word," Pannaman said Sunday from his home in Tamarac.

"After he shot me, the guy looked like he was in shock. He looked very, very surprised.