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Old March 8, 2005, 03:54 PM   #1
sean85746
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My Dad Was Pretty Tuff!

My Dad passed away in 1994. I bring this up because my wife, who had never met him was asking me about him. She is always interested in the stories my sister, and my best friend tell about "The Colonel". The following account was one recently brought to mind.

Dad was a pilot. He served in The Air Force for 30 years, from 1950 to 1980. He served in Korea, and Vietnam. He retired a Bird Colonel. He was old school, and lived as hard as he flew. Smoked unfiltered Luckys, and downed Jim Beam.

In 1989, My Dad, Maternal Grandfather, Uncle Jim, my Brother, and I were in Glennie Michigan deer hunting at Dad's cabin. I was 21, and was a police officer (in Arizona, not MI).

It was the end of the day, and getting dusky...Dad was waiting at the spot where we all met up to walk back to the cabin together.

He was smoking one of his Luckys, waiting when a Bronco full of younger guys pulled up and made a smarta$$ comment. Dad being Dad, made one back.

The guy in the passenger seat jumped out and sucker punched Dad. Dad slipped on some mud, and went down on his back. The guy jumped on him and hit him a couple mroe times.

Just then, I walked out of the trees about 30 yards away. I started running up to the scuffle, and saw Dad toss this guy off him, and roll the 30-30 Marlin he was carrying off his shoulder.

Dad got to his feet and whapped the guy right across the cheekbone, and rack the lever, and jam the muzzle into the guy's bellybutton.

I had stopped carrying a rifle, and was armed with my Smith & Wesson Model 657 .41Mag. I drew it, and covered the remaining three men in the Bronco.

The guy on the ground, cussed and sputtered, and yelled for the guys in the Bronco to..."Give me my f*****g gun!"

Dad said "Go ahead and grab a gun, and this is gonna be a shooting instead of a fistfight!...I'll blow your buddy's guts all over the ground!"

I ordered the three in The Bronco to exit the vehicle. One of them said "There's three of us motherf****r!"

"Yeah? There's FIVE of us [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]!"

They never saw My Brother, Uncle Jim, amd Grandpa all pointing rifles at the Bronco!

I ordered the trio out of the Bronco again, this time they complied. I took their ID's...they were ALL Air Force enlisted personel! The old Wurtsmith AFB was 12 miles north of our location. I kept their ID's, and we sent them on their way.

I was acting as a private citizen at this point, and was seriouly hoping for some professional courtesy when I spoke to the local cops. We went back to the cabin, and drove into town, and called the State Police.

We met a trooper at a diner, and told our story. All pertinent information was taken down, and a report number given.

Then, Dad being Dad... he piled everyone into his Suburban, and we drove to the Air Base. The sticker on his bumper got us through the gate with a snappy salute.

Before too long, four sorry looking airmen were in the Base Commander's office, and soon after that...at the local State Police Barracks.

Moral of the story...don't mess with a 61 year old man! You don't know who you're about to tangle with...especially if you don't get his .30-30 away from him!
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Old March 8, 2005, 04:15 PM   #2
FirstFreedom
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Cool. Reminds me of the old Uncle Ted joke. PM me if you haven't heard it.
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Old March 8, 2005, 05:23 PM   #3
Nimitz87
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your dad is cool

and I have to question someone who will pick on an elderly man....ugh. :barf:

what happened to the sacks of manure?
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Old March 8, 2005, 05:49 PM   #4
Rojoe67
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Sean...

Thanks for that shared memory of your father (the Full Bird). I was lucky enough to meet a few guys that sound a lot like your dad. I didn't enter the AF until 85 though. Sorry to hear the dumb a** group were enlisted Air Force. I have no idea what came of their fate. I would just guess if they were lucky enough to finish the tour of duty they darn sure didn't get a chance to re-up. Myself being an enlisted airman then an NCO I would like to take this moment to apoligize for these dirt bags actions. I would guess they likely had a little cider on the drive out to the woods. Too bad it had to spoil your hunting trip. However, sounds like your father made it a great trip by taking the time to iron out the wrinkles (so to say) back at Wurtsmith. I liked that base. I did two tours of duty there.

May I suggest if you have time write down short stories of your father, you and all the things that you might forget in the years to come. You could pass it on to your kids or other family members. I am going to do the same real soon. My dad was a tank commander on the Czech border. He served there after WWII was over. He had a lot of interesting stories of the Communist Soldiers on the other side of the fence. Some real tight and hair raisers.

Thanks again for your post....
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Old March 8, 2005, 09:33 PM   #5
Don Gwinn
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Maybe a LOT of cider.

Imagine rolling up to somebody in the middle of nowhere, insulting him, and attacking him. For what reason?

I'll never understand some people.

Your dad was pretty awesome. He had t3h gr4pp1e back before t3h 1nterne7s!
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Old March 9, 2005, 12:50 AM   #6
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Yep, cool dad, but apparently not tactically on top of things. Letting the comment slide might have kept the situation from getting so bad so quick. Plus, fights and especially gun fights out in the sticks means not having ready access to hospital care should things have gone south.

I am not sure that collecting the IDs at gun point and keeping them was actually legal. It is armed robbery.
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Old March 9, 2005, 09:22 AM   #7
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Re "letting things slide etc.", sometimes you just have to do the right thing regardless.
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Old March 9, 2005, 02:43 PM   #8
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Double Naught Spy,

Some would say it's a lighter offense than assault and battery...
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Old March 9, 2005, 04:53 PM   #9
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Depends on where you live, Red State/Blue State or Rural/Urban. I once testified before a grand jury that was hearing the case of a woman who heard noise in her back yard at 0 dark thirty and investigated. It was three youts where were stealing her firewood. She stepped infront of their pick up and when they started forward she launched a .357mag round down range and in doing so the round passed thru the windshied of the pickup and out the back window. After this the youts only wanted to comply with her wishes and were only too pleased to do anything she wanted them to.

This is a case that happened in rural Texas. The lady's life was in jepordy and they were committing theft during the night time and the property could not be recovered by any other means. In Texas this justified the use of Deadly Force.
The Grand Jury said "Good Job" and sent her on her way with a Letter of Commendation for stopping Felons from Committing a Criminal Act.

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Old March 18, 2005, 05:51 PM   #10
IronGeek
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Cool Dad

I like this story. It touches upon my life & the reason I'm here. My father was a pilot in WWII, an excellent woodsman & an all-around fun guy. He passed away a month ago & I'm finding myself wanting to do all the things we did together when I was a kid. Camping, basketball, & shooting, among others. My two brothers & I each received one of dad's guns. I received his Smith & Wesson 357M & now practice at the range every weekend. I wear his coat too. I feel like he's still with me, in my heart. I doubt I'll ever need to protect myself with this gun, but it's very comforting to me nonetheless.

IG

Last edited by IronGeek; March 18, 2005 at 06:39 PM. Reason: typo
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Old March 18, 2005, 07:43 PM   #11
FrankDrebin
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Quote:
I am not sure that collecting the IDs at gun point and keeping them was actually legal. It is armed robbery.
Not sure what state you're in, but it's not even close to armed robbery in MI....
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Old March 23, 2005, 10:58 PM   #12
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Great story, thanks to your dad I bet those losers will think twice before mouthing off to some senior citizen.
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Old March 24, 2005, 01:17 AM   #13
mikikanazawa
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Great story!

I was on a construction site with a friend and his father when I was in my early 20s. It was a hot Los Angeles summer, his dad was a plumber installing new pipes. We were along to help, because, quite frankly, we had sweet poo all to do.

My buddy has an abrasive sense of humor, so it was only a matter of minutes before he pissed off some of the strapping men carrying lumber across the field. My buddy's a small guy; not a bad person, but doesn't know when to shut up. By the time I figured out what was going on, he was surrounded by six guys looking for some action (on my buddy's butt, most likely).

You have to visualize his dad. Greek guy in his 70s (didn't retire until 80s). Maybe 5'6" when his knee wasn't acting up. Barrel-chested and hands like hamhocks. Heavy Greek accent, gruff voice. Sees what's happening to his son and walks slooooowly to the group. I figured he was going to let his son sweat a bit.

So the old man walks up to the group and says to the guy closest to him, "What the F's a matta with you ah?" and then SOUNDLY open-hand slaps the guy in the face. I'm not kidding you, that guy's feet probably lifted 18 inches off the ground. The rest of the guys slinked away... after they closed their mouths.

Then we proceeded to remove screwed-on caps from four-inch iron pipe. Me and my buddy were using strap wrenches. Guess who was using his bare hands?
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Old April 5, 2005, 02:53 AM   #14
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God Bless Texas!

Quote:
This is a case that happened in rural Texas. The lady's life was in jepordy and they were committing theft during the night time and the property could not be recovered by any other means. In Texas this justified the use of Deadly Force.
I love living in Texas...
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