Please note: This episode has previously aired on the Sasquatch Chronicles podcast as Episode 897, and is being featured with express permission
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Ric writes “I am a 22-year Army Veteran. It was the greatest joy in my life being a soldier next to being a father of two.
At that time, my MOS was 11B (Infantry) and my specialty was Infantry Scout. I attended One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Ft Benning, GA, where I was taught the skills necessary to be an effective scout. I did deploy to Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Bosnia, Kosovo, OEF, and OIF.
In my heart, I know I served with integrity and honor. So it makes it a bit difficult for what I am about to tell you, but on the eyes and souls of my children it’s the Gods honest truth.
I was based at Fort Bragg, NC in 1996. I was with HHQ Co, 1/505th PIR, and in 1996 we were going to be involved in a joint training exercise at Fort Lewis. While preparing all the equipment and other additional things needed to be done prior to leaving, I was informed that I was going to be the Op-For leader. I had been in Op-For a couple of times before and I will admit that it was fun to do. I had several meetings with the Battalion S-3 in charge of operations and planning and others and was given a long list of actions that the Op-For would be doing. It was a surprise to be informed that we’ll be “let loose” and engage the units however we wished as long as it followed the planning schedule. Two of the missions had us as terrorists with a suicide bomb vest. We used brown cardboard tubes from paper rolls and toilet paper and painted them and glued and taped them with wires to make them look real. In other missions, we were to penetrate the AO (Area of Operation) and plant “bombs” on vehicles, next to crew tents, and leave without being seen. The S3 would be informed via radio calls to the TOC (Tactical Operation Center). We were causing havoc everywhere and we were having a blast. We’d set up our “campsite” and get our rest near the areas where we were to do whatever the plan called for.
On the night in question, we checked the map to see where the company we would be attacking would be since all locations were predetermined. Seeing where all the other units were on the map, I made the decision of where to bunk down and get a few hours of rest before we would go on with the mission at hand. We parked the humvee as close as possible to the hill that I thought would be best to keep us from being noticed and climbed up to the hilltop. The next day’s mission had us attacking on or about 5 a.m. The plan was to get up at 3 a.m. and I would take the 1 to 3 guard shift. It was close to midnight when we were awoken by live small arms fire. Everyone involved in this training exercise carried blanks and all had red blank adapters attached at the end of the muzzle.
There is a very distinct difference in sound between live rounds and blank rounds. The firing was about 350 to 400-meters from our location on the opposite side of the hill where, according to the war map, no unit was to be. Within moments of the firing starting up, there was a very loud roar. I’ve heard lions roar and this was much louder and you could feel it. The guys and I were scared straight. The weapon fire lasted thirty seconds, give or take, and then quiet. Two of my soldiers were about to run down the hill to see what was going on and I had to stop them. We gathered our M-16s and night vision goggles and cautiously proceeded down the hill going from tree to tree and hide. There were a few bright flashlights we could see as we approached. We were about 75 feet and could hear men talking and one was on a radio when suddenly one of them shouted out “Movement up the hill!” We got caught and were told to reveal ourselves and approach. And that’s where we saw them! There in front of us lay two Sasquatch. The male was obviously dead, and the female was breathing heavily, spitting out and choking on her blood. The men there took our weapons and night vision goggles and the one talking identified himself only as a captain. He was talking loudly and was pissed off that we were there. Much of what was said at first didn’t relay to us because we looking at the two Sasquatch...""
Hosted by Wes Germer
Directed by Wes Germer
#lesstroud #survivorman #sasquatch
7 июл 2023
