king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Best of 2007 Feb-March 2008 - Index

humbled
and moved
nonetheless to spend
some high-energy quality time
with hundreds and hundreds of
courageous heroes in uniform and
their brave families. My spirit
was powerfully fortifi ed with
every handshake and photograph
we took together. There is no
question that these are the
brightest, most professional,
most patriotic men and women of
goodwill and decency the world
has ever known. Statistically, they
are the smartest people around,
and have clearly dedicated this
intellect and sense of duty to
God, country and mankind to
intensely researching the war on
terror. They probe every scrap of
evidence, and thereby determine
their choice to volunteer to put
themselves in harm’s way. They
train with all their hearts and
souls to be the best soldiers,
sailors, airmen and marines that
they can be in order to halt evil
wherever they may fi nd it. Brave
volunteers. There is no greater
sacrifi ce a human can make
than to volunteer to lay down
one’s life for their fellow man.
These enlisted men and women
are saints with M16s. Godbless
and Godspeed the warrior
BloodBrothers all.
There was a clear and
present openness to the soldiers’
conversation during our time
together on Gitmo. The moral
was gungho, the spirit and
energy positive and buoyant, and
their sense of humor and focus
forthright. They come from
every walk of life and every
state across this great
land, and they all have
a story to share about
their love of the great
outdoors and rock-n-roll.
It seemed that they were
all hunters and fi shermen
with even a few fellow
trappers thrown in amongst
them. Many military heroes
have pictures to show me
of their recent deer, turkey,
moose, bear, hog, pheasant,
bass or other game that they
are so very proud of. To connect
with these great outdoorsmen and
women is very special. We are
SpiritWild BloodBrothers for sure.
We had a grand time celebrating
the great American outdoor
traditions and heritage of handson
conservation. Each and every
one of these soldiers were either a
member of the NRA or, at the very
least, a hardcore vocal supporter of
our sacred Second Amendment.
Their oath to protect
the U.S. Constitution is
proudly taken to heart. I
looked to them for wisdom,
strength and soulfulness,
and found it all in unlimited
quantities. Semper Fi.
I spent a long phone
conversation with private
fi rst class Mike Stilson of
Washington who was bedridden
at Bethesda Naval Hospital and
about to go in for his 20th
surgery. This heroic 19-year
old marine had taken an IED
(improvised explosive device)
centermass on the frontlines
of the war on terror, and
was lucky to be alive. He
had honored me with his
request to shoot the breeze
with his “Uncle Ted” and we talked
at length about his great love of
elk hunting in the wilds of his home
state of Washington. His mother was
at his side in the hospital room, and
he described the photo on his table
of the stunning 6x6 bull elk his
father had bow-killed this season.
For a brave young man with his
guts blown out, he sure showed
what Marines are made of. He
expressed with certainty that
he would be back in the wild
again before too long, chasing
the mighty wapiti himself with
his dad and brother. I told him
that all his American hunting
BloodBrothers pray for his full
and quick recovery, and promised
him that we would go hunting
together as soon as possible.
Another great American hero
who will make it. Pray hard for
him and all of them.
In the meantime, my
poor band mates were hopelessly
stranded by the roiling 14-foot
waves that blockaded access to
the wayward side of Guantanamo
Bay where we had been scheduled
to rock. They sat helplessly with
all our stage gear and
nothing to do
except
stay out of the
wind and rain. They too
made the best of their time and
shared war stories with enlisted
men and women, roughing it in
the barracks of the base which
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