Überlebende
05-04-2007, 11:27
Just thought that I would throw out a new item. I am sure that a number of us have taken the course(s) that were provided by the military to ensure, we hope, that we could survive in a bad spot. I have taken a number of these courses and really enjoyed them. I was always asking for more, more. I am sure that all of us that went on those outings will have some type of story that they would like to pass along. I am sure that we all have funny ones but at the same time, I am sure that there are some serious incidents that I am sure you would like to share with the group. I have a good one about a fox bat in PI. In 1979 I was in the Philippines taking the JEST course. I became friends with one of the local instructors and he would take me aside as often as was possible and teach me stuff that was not really included in the scheduled course. Here is the story. While humping thru the jungle, we happened to run into a large group of fox bats in the trees. The guide took out his slingshot and knocked a big one out of the tree. He turned to the Marines that were in the course to grab the bat and carry it back to camp. The Marines refused to touch the bat. I informed the guide that I would carry it back to camp. The guide assured me the bat was dead and would present no problem. I was carrying the bat in my left hand and after about 10 minutes I felt something pulling at my left hand. I looked at my hand and noticed that the bat was coming "back to life" and was trying to beat feet. I told Sal (the guide/instructor) that the bat did not seem to be dead but was only playing dead. Sal walked over to me and my flapping pet, took out his bolo and quickly removed the bats head with one swipe. Sal also informed us that most of the fox bats carried rabies and that I was lucky that I did not get bitten. Later when we had returned to camp, Sal showed us how to prepare and cook the fox bat. He also informed the Marines that "this bat belongs to Doc and that if they wanted to eat supper, they needed to go get their own bat." I laughed my ass off as the Marines tried to get some bats. They got a few and Sal made sure that they all had something to eat. From then on they really listened to Sal. What is your story????