M. Sarsfield
02-20-08, 08:10 AM
This should spool up all you pansy anti-gun socialists... :arrgh!:
BREVARD, Jan. 19, 2008 - Retired Army Green Beret James T. (Smokey)
Taylor got his court martial his weekend and came away feeling pretty
good about it.
Taylor, at age 79, is one of the oldest members of Chapter XXXIII (The
Larry Thorne Chapter) of the Special Forces Association. He was placed
on trial by fellow Chapter XXXIII members under the charge of "failing
to use a weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at
his home in Knoxville, TN, in November.
The court martial, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. The event
itself was deadly serious. Taylor had been awakened in the early morning
hours of November 5, 2007,when an intruder broke into his home. He
investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand.
"It was just after Halloween, on Monday morning at 4:30," Taylor said. I
heard this commotion at the door and grabbed my fishing gun, a little
.22 revolver, to see what was going on. I got to the front door and this
fellow had ripped my security door out of its frame. He said, 'you're
going to have to kill me. I'm coming in.'"
When a warning to leave went unheeded, Taylor brought his .22 caliber
pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.
"I was about four feet away from him when I shot," Taylor said. "Looking
back now, I'm glad he didn't die, but that boy had the hardest head I've
ever seen. The bullet bounced right off."
The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out
of the house then got up and ran down the street. Taylor dialed 911 and
Knoxville police apprehended the wounded man about 200 yards away,
hiding in a hedgerow.
Complicating the case, as well as the court martial, the offender was
released on bail but failed to appear for his court date. Knoxville
police said the man was homeless. They did not know his whereabouts or
why he had been given bail.
The charges brought against Taylor by his fellow Green Berets were
considered to be serious. He is a retired Special Forces Weapons
Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the wars in Korea and
Vietnam.
"Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have
saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter
XXXIII President Bill Long of Asheville, NC.
The trial was held at the Hampton Inn in Brevard, part of the group's
regularly scheduled quarterly meeting. Long appointed a judge, Bert
Bates, a defense counsel, Jim Hash, and a prosecutor, Charlie Ponds. All
are retired Special Forces non-commissioned officers with extensive
combat and weapons experience.
Ponds outlined the case against Taylor, emphasizing that the citizens of
Knox County were going to be burdened with significant costs to again
apprehend, and then prosecute and defend the would-be burglar.
"Proper choice of a larger caliber gun would have spared the citizens
this financial burden," Ponds said, "while removing one bad guy from the
streets for good. He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't
big enough to get the job done.
Hash disagreed. He said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to
arm himself with a 22. "If he'd used a .45 or something like that the
round would have gone
> right through the perp, the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly
injured some innocent child asleep in its bed. I believe the evidence
shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of
weapons. He clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."
Hash then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced off the perp's
forehead.
"He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea
and again in Vietnam, when his units were issued ammo left over from
World War II."
Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his
peers to debate the matter. The jury, consisting of all the members of
the Chapter, discussed the merits of choosing a larger caliber weapon as
well as the obvious benefits to society of permanently deleting the
intruder so he would never again threaten any private citizen.
The other side of the coin, that of accidentally causing injury to a
completely innocent citizen if a more powerful gun had been used, also
gained considerable support.
Following testimony from both sides, Judge Bates determined the charges
should be dismissed. The decision was met with a round of applause. In
fact, there was strong sentiment expressed that Taylor should receive an
award for not only choosing wisely in picking up the 22, but for the
accuracy of his aim under difficult and dangerous
conditions.
After the trial Taylor said the ammunition was indeed old and added the
new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out the
door.
"I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through
his forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."
Meanwhile, back in Knox County, the word is out: Don't go messing with
Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.
Tribune Editor Bill Fishburne is a member of the Larry Thorne Chapter
XXXIII of the Special Forces Association.
BREVARD, Jan. 19, 2008 - Retired Army Green Beret James T. (Smokey)
Taylor got his court martial his weekend and came away feeling pretty
good about it.
Taylor, at age 79, is one of the oldest members of Chapter XXXIII (The
Larry Thorne Chapter) of the Special Forces Association. He was placed
on trial by fellow Chapter XXXIII members under the charge of "failing
to use a weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at
his home in Knoxville, TN, in November.
The court martial, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. The event
itself was deadly serious. Taylor had been awakened in the early morning
hours of November 5, 2007,when an intruder broke into his home. He
investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand.
"It was just after Halloween, on Monday morning at 4:30," Taylor said. I
heard this commotion at the door and grabbed my fishing gun, a little
.22 revolver, to see what was going on. I got to the front door and this
fellow had ripped my security door out of its frame. He said, 'you're
going to have to kill me. I'm coming in.'"
When a warning to leave went unheeded, Taylor brought his .22 caliber
pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.
"I was about four feet away from him when I shot," Taylor said. "Looking
back now, I'm glad he didn't die, but that boy had the hardest head I've
ever seen. The bullet bounced right off."
The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out
of the house then got up and ran down the street. Taylor dialed 911 and
Knoxville police apprehended the wounded man about 200 yards away,
hiding in a hedgerow.
Complicating the case, as well as the court martial, the offender was
released on bail but failed to appear for his court date. Knoxville
police said the man was homeless. They did not know his whereabouts or
why he had been given bail.
The charges brought against Taylor by his fellow Green Berets were
considered to be serious. He is a retired Special Forces Weapons
Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the wars in Korea and
Vietnam.
"Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have
saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter
XXXIII President Bill Long of Asheville, NC.
The trial was held at the Hampton Inn in Brevard, part of the group's
regularly scheduled quarterly meeting. Long appointed a judge, Bert
Bates, a defense counsel, Jim Hash, and a prosecutor, Charlie Ponds. All
are retired Special Forces non-commissioned officers with extensive
combat and weapons experience.
Ponds outlined the case against Taylor, emphasizing that the citizens of
Knox County were going to be burdened with significant costs to again
apprehend, and then prosecute and defend the would-be burglar.
"Proper choice of a larger caliber gun would have spared the citizens
this financial burden," Ponds said, "while removing one bad guy from the
streets for good. He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't
big enough to get the job done.
Hash disagreed. He said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to
arm himself with a 22. "If he'd used a .45 or something like that the
round would have gone
> right through the perp, the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly
injured some innocent child asleep in its bed. I believe the evidence
shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of
weapons. He clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."
Hash then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced off the perp's
forehead.
"He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea
and again in Vietnam, when his units were issued ammo left over from
World War II."
Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his
peers to debate the matter. The jury, consisting of all the members of
the Chapter, discussed the merits of choosing a larger caliber weapon as
well as the obvious benefits to society of permanently deleting the
intruder so he would never again threaten any private citizen.
The other side of the coin, that of accidentally causing injury to a
completely innocent citizen if a more powerful gun had been used, also
gained considerable support.
Following testimony from both sides, Judge Bates determined the charges
should be dismissed. The decision was met with a round of applause. In
fact, there was strong sentiment expressed that Taylor should receive an
award for not only choosing wisely in picking up the 22, but for the
accuracy of his aim under difficult and dangerous
conditions.
After the trial Taylor said the ammunition was indeed old and added the
new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out the
door.
"I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through
his forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."
Meanwhile, back in Knox County, the word is out: Don't go messing with
Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.
Tribune Editor Bill Fishburne is a member of the Larry Thorne Chapter
XXXIII of the Special Forces Association.