Originally Posted by Rich Anderson (Post 63890)

Billy Sowles graduated from a small northern Michigan High School in 1965. Like many rural graduates his job prospects were limited to the continuation of working on the family farm something he had done since he was 14 much as his father befor him and his Grandfather befor that or he could pick up a chain saw and work in the woods. College wasn't in the cards as there was no money for such things and the big city was 250 miles away and might as well have been a foreign country to Billy.

Billy spent that first year after graduation "DogPaddeling through the Pool of Life' as his father would say. Then after a night of to many beers, pot and a "borrowed" car that he introduced to a Maple tree he found himself in front of the local Magistrate. He was given two choices, he could go to jail which would undoubtly lead to more jails and maybe even prison or he could join the Army. The Magistrate figured the Military would give the young man some needed discipline and direction. The idea of being confined to a human kennel didn't sound to good so Billy enlisted in the United States Army.

Boot camp was a wake up call like he had never experienced befor and hoped he would never have to again. After the first couple of weeks he setteled into the routine and excelled. He was a strong young man and had a heads up over some of his other bunkmates. The Orienteering excercises were a snap for Billy as he grew up hunting in the north woods and he could read a map and use a compass. When it came time for record fire with the M16 Billy was once again ahead of the curve. He became the best shot in the Battalion but this became a two edged sword because he caught the eye of a recruiter for the elite Special Forces. Being young and full of spit and vinegar Billy extended his enlistment two years and was off to Jump School.

Jump School was followed by Ranger training and by 1968 Billy was a E-4 headed for Viet Nam. He became a squad leader followed by Platoon leader and in a year he was given another stripe and the covert assignments kept coming. He found himself in one jungle after another be it Nam, Laos, Cambodia it didn't matter. He took care of his men and did his best to bring them back at the end of the day.

He was midway through his second combat tour when the word came that his father has passed away. When he didn't come to the house for supper his mother went to the Milk House and his father was on the floor dead from a massive heart attack. Billy never really had time to grieve his loss as everyday was a fight to stay alive and keep his men safe. Another promotion came and the accolades of being a good soldire. He was awarded the Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Purple Heart. This was due to galantry under fire when he rescued five wounded men from his platoon and carried them one at a time on his back to safty where a MediVac chopper could get them to a field hospital. This cost him a kidney and a permanent limp as he himself was shot three times though he never felt a thing. He was the last man out and due to his injuries was discharged from service.

In 48 hours from leaving the hospital in Soul Korea Billy was home. There was no Heros welcome, no ticker tape parade. It seemed home was just another foreign country to him now. He had been gone for almost five years and his friends seemed different now. He was different also, the rowdyness was gone and he was harder in some ways and softer in others. His friends didn't know what to say and others gave him a wide birth. It was a small town and everyone knew where he had been but no one knew what he had been through.

Billy never talked about the War and even though he was home now it was never far away. He would wake up in the night covered in sweat, the sound of small arms fire ringing in his ears, the smell of Napalm in his nostrils and the faces of his comrades in his mind. His screams in the night would wake his Mother but there wasn't much she knew to do but to give him all the comfort she knew how to.

Billy was in limbo, a man with no purpose now. In the Army he had a job to do and people to account for and that was taken away. He would spend most of his days in the woods with the Setter Belle as he was comfortable there. The dog was a good listener and never asked any questions. In the fall he would take his Granddads Parker a VH 12 as he and Belle roamed the woods and fields of the family farm. He never shot a bird as he just couldn't bring himself to do any more killing. He had seen and done enough for several lifetimes. Once in a while he'd fire off a shot just to honor the dogs point but that was about it.

Everything happens for a reason and Billy's life was about to change. The Church of the Holy Trinity was haveing a bake sale and Billy helped his mother take some pies and cookies she had baked up to the church. He met two people there that would change his life. The first was father Sullivan who heard from Billy's mom what he was going through. The father had a good idea as he was a WWII vetran himself the second was Kathryn Martin a widow who's husband was killed in a car accident when he swerved to miss a deer. Kathryn worked two jobs to make ends meet and provide for herself and he young son Tommie.

Father Sullivan knew not to push Billy into talking but in time they had long conversations and Billy began to attend services perhaps to attone for the sins he felt he had commmitted but also to have contact with Kathryn. Kathryn's son had more questions than she had ansers for especially about the outdoors. Billy had taken a likeing to Tommie and as the relationship between he an Kathryn grew so did it with Tommie.

A couple of years had gone by and befor he knew it Billy had become a mentor to Tommie. He taught him how to drive a tractor, scout a buck, set a decoy spread for when the Mallards came to the pond and the difference in habitat between the Grouse/Woodcock and the Pheasant. He also taught him something more important than all that, and that was to respect the land and the animals. "You don't hunt for the sole purpose of killing and animal" he would say. "If thats your intent than go to the grocery store and buy a steak or a chicken" and stay out of the woods. Billy and Tommie spent a lot of time with Belle wandering the woods and fields and Tommie learned how to handel Belle or perhaps Belle had learned to handel Tommie. Billy always carried the Parker but still he had never fired a shot with it at a game bird.

October 20th rolled around which is the opening day of Pheasant season. Tommie asked if they could go when he got out of school that afternoon and so Billie picked him up at 3pm for the afternoon hunt. The teacher, student and Belle headed for the south end of the 80 acre field where they had heard the cackle of Roosters in the spring. The CRP field bordered an abandoned Apple Orchard and there was a small feeder creek that ran into the pond behind that. It was home for the Pheasant. On the edge of the CRP and the Orchard Belle locked solid on point. A Rooster rocketed out of the grass cackeling his dipleasure at being intruded upon. Instantly and without thought the Parker was up and the front trigger pressed and the bird folded dead in the air. The sound of the shot sent a second unseen Rooster into the air seeking refuge somewhere else. Just a squickly the second trigger tripped and that bird also fell the full choke barrel reaching out and the load of 6's connecting squarely. In a flash it was over Belle returned the two birds to Billy who had to take a moment to think about what had just happened.

Billy took the two birds and he and Tommie sat on an old stone wall where he took the two spent paper shells put of the Parker. He handed one to Tommie and said "smell this as it won't be here much longer, nothing beats the smell of a fired paper hull". Billy smoothed the ruffeled feathers of the two birds and showed Tommie the difference between the first bird a young Rooster and the more mature cockbird that was the second one. Tommie picked up on the reverance, and respect Billy had for the two birds he had just killed and a life lesson was learned that day.

With the limit reached they headed for the house where Tommie learned to care for the birds properly. He and his Mom would come for Sunday dinner after church and feast on the bounty provided for by the land.

That night after dinner as Billy watched some TV with Belle's head on his lap and him scratching her ears he felt differently than he had in years. He was at peace, he was safe. With the help of a young boy and old dog and the Parker that bound them together he was finally home. He fell asleep watching TV with Belle and for the first time in years he slept through the night.

Originally Posted by Rich Anderson (Post 64040)

Thanks to all who have enjoyed my rambelings.
Kevin it's pure fiction, sometimes a thought comes to me that I just can't get away from and it keeps me up untill I do something like this piece. I'm glad you liked it.