GRIZZLYMAN

Let's see.

When I was a kid we camped out around Fouke, Arkansas. For non-Arkansans that is the home of the "Fouke Monster", a supposed bigfoot type creature. On one of our trips our scoutmaster had arranged with some of the locals to scare us with growls from a PA system coming from the woods across the field from where we were camping. The landowner of the property came out and made this big production about the "monster" and started firing a revolver with blanks toward the woodline. About the time this was happening, my father, the local post commander for the State Police, shows up, on duty, in uniform, not knowing what is going on, just checking on us, and pulls his riot shotgun out of his cruiser. I thought the landowner and our scoutmaster were going to$hit all over themselves.

On a serious note, one timewhen I was a ground pounder, 1LT,I was tasked withrunning a night patrol with my detachment. It was a cold, wet, rainy night. There was only one soldier, my point man, in front of me, in the direction of movement. To my left I saw something moving the opposite direction. I thought it was my point man, but soon ascertained that my point man was still in front of me. The rest of my detachment was behind me. We didn't have any opposing forces for that exercise. The hair on the back of my neck was on end. I don't normally get that feeling in the woods. We did a quick head count and debriefed everyone. That wasn't one of my guys. To this day I don't know what that was.