An armored garment, such as a vest, has an attached rescue strap allowing a soldier in battle to quickly move a fallen comrade from immediate danger to safety. The rescue strap enables a rescuing soldier to move a wounded soldier in a manner that also allows the rescuing soldier to use his weapon and return enemy fire as necessary. The rescue strap may be affixed to an anchor strap secured to a panel of the garment and that distributes the pulling force across the garment panel. The rescue strap stores when not in use, but in a manner easily reached for quick deployment. A pull handle, for example a ring or a carabiner, can be affixed to an end of the strap to be grasped by a rescuing soldier. Pulling the handle draws the rescue strap from its storage location to be used to pull a wounded soldier to safety. A further feature of the armored garment is a stretchable flexible expansion joint that divides an outer woven back panel of the garment allowing greater freedom of movement to the wearer.