He was brought up on charges of 'destruction of government property', though through non-judicial punishment (office hours). The previous weekend another of our squadmates had finagled a ride to San Diego and came back with a second-degree sunburn that incapacitated him. We had that boot off in no time, applied the suction cup (without 'connecting the dots' by incising with the included scalpel!) washed the wound with soap and water (we did, of course, have canteens with us but the only soap happened to be an odd packet of laundry detergent that had thankfully resembled a ketchup packet thus was included in our kit), wrapped it in a wet field dressing and headed back to base. It really is quite amazing how the information imparted to you, during a class you distinctly remember sleeping through, comes to the fore. However, being good 'boot' Marines (the only type who would think it a good idea to hunt rattlesnakes with K-Bars) we did have snake-bite kits with us. Even so, it hurt more than a Drill Instructor correcting my 'Position of Attention'! Thankfully one fang embedded itself in the reinforced leather at the top of my boot but the other found home fully just above it. He, quite naturally, took offence at my rude interruption of his sun-bathing and proceeded to express his displeasure at the inconvenience with one of the only two responses in his repertoire, fight rather than flight being necessitated by my boot pinning him to the rock he had been happily enjoying.
To make an embarrassing story short, whilst engaging in single combat with a rattler to my front, and finding a tactical withdrawal in order, I inadvertently stepped on one to my rear. Although my squadmate and I had set off to simply explore abandoned gold mines in the Mojave near base we failed to find any 'X's marking the spot and instead decided to do a little rattler huntin' as they are quite obvious in those environs during the Spring as I'm sure you know. To be sure it was not one of my more shining moments, to be honest I got what I deserved. That's because if you're dumb enough to play with them.!Īlan, I never made it down to III Corps but it sounds as if they may have learned their driving skills from those long ago crazy Motor T guys. One will notice there are no photos of snake gloves. For those of you living in venomous snake-free lands here's a link that illustrates what I'm talking about - (It also includes photos of snake guards and snake chaps for those pesky higher hitting reptiles.) (Actually I didn't buy my first pair until after being bit by a rattler in the high desert around 29 Palms.
Peter has certainly put the fear of God in me, if I'm ever tempted to go skinny dippin' in Africa I'll be sure to have a catheter inserted first! As for getting snake bit there is an elegant solution - snake boots. Mike, it depends on the weapon and the individual, training and logistics can go a long way!.
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