re: #9 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

We were camping in the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson and I woke up with a dead scorpion in my sleeping bag, I must have rolled over and crushed him before he could get to me.

That is the last time I have ever slept out under the stars.

I know scorpions are not necessarily deadly, but it was an eight-mile hike to our car and another 30 miles to the nearest clinic…

Glad you didn’t get stung.

Wasn’t there a Far-Side cartoon on that?

Yup, playing amongst the wildlife is not always a good idea.

Although I remember being on maneuvers when some nearby Special Forces encountered a Timber Rattler. Caught and cooked it. They did share a taste of it to all comers.

And a co-worker who had his Ranger tab talked about how an M-16 blank, if done right will put down a nice sized alligator for supplementary rations, during the Florida phase, when the trainers aren’t looking.