"O.K., O.K. Bob. I understand about getting ready to survive in bad times. I can even see how the Boy Scouts helped you to prepare for what is happening now. But what about other things? Like when you rescued us from the gang members."

"That was a matter of Gods' grace, and my training as a soldier. They weren't professionals. If they had been, we wouldn't be talking now.

"But Bob, you won."

"No Kathy. We lost. Now it's true that I scared them off at first, but they came back later. Then they were scared off a second time, with heavy losses on both occasions. But make no mistake about it. We lost. If we had won, we would be sitting at home right now. As it is, before your family came to my house both of your cars were useless pieces of junk. As of now, I'm certain that there is nothing of value left in your home. They've taken it all. And my home, it's nothing but a pile of scorched concrete, burned wood, and ashes. No Kathy, we didn't win. We lost, big time."

"But you jumped right into the middle of them and saved us."

Bob chuckled before answering.

"Hardly. If I had 'jumped into the middle of them' we would all be dead by now. What I did was to stand off a ways and use a rifle. That and the element of suprize are what made the difference.

You see, they had handguns and a single shotgun. Both are short range weapons. I was using a rifle that will reach out and touch someone at about one hundred yards. When I opened fire on them I was at least fifty yards away. It takes a professional soldier a lot of practice to be able to hit even a man sized target with a pistol at that range. And I was standing behind a tree, which made me even a smaller target. Those people weren't professionals. I put down three of them before any of them had the first idea where the fire was coming from. Even then, at that range, a handgun is a poor choice of weapons. For the average person, a target at that range is an impossibility with a pistol. Oh yes, they sprayed the area with bullets, but none came close to me. In the mean time, with the rifle I was downing man after man.

Once they realized that they were on the losing end of the deal, they scattered. Then I was able to get you out of there. But when they came back, it was in force. True, the booby traps I had waiting for them made them leave a second time. Which gave us the chance to get out. But all in all, we lost. They hold our property, and we are running for our lives. The only victory we can claim is that God in His mercy allowed us to all get away. That is all.

I guess it comes down to what my favorite science fiction writer once said in a book. 'A wise man, in the course of a long life, is prepared to abandon his luggage, several times'."

"Meaning, we can't go back?"

"Meaning, we can't go back."


BW, Vietnam Vet