THE GREEN BERET COURT MARTIAL

email | 01 August 2008 | To The Point News

[B4Ranch]

THE GREEN BERET COURT MARTIAL Written by To The Point News Friday, 01 August 2008

US Army Green Beret James T. (Smokey) Taylor was awakened in the early morning hours of November 5, 2007, when an intruder broke into his home in Knoxville, Tennessee. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in the house.

"It was just after Halloween, on Monday morning at 4:30," Taylor testified in his trial. "I heard this commotion at the door and grabbed my fishing gun, a little .22 revolver, to see what was going on.

"I got to the front door and this fellow had ripped my security door out of its frame. He said, 'You're going to have to kill me. I'm coming in'."

When a warning to leave went unheeded, Taylor brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.

"I was about four feet away from him when I shot," Taylor testified. "Looking back now, I'm glad he didn't die but that boy had the hardest head I've ever seen. The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of the house then got up and ran down the street.

Taylor dialed 911 and Knoxville police apprehended the wounded man hiding in a hedgerow about 200 yards away. The offender was released on bail but failed to appear for his court date. Knoxville police said the man was homeless.

Nonetheless, Smokey was court martialed for his actions. He was placed on trial by his fellow members of Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association, who found him guilty of "Failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber."

His sentence, however, was suspended given the extenuating circumstance of his being retired and 79 years old.

[djsherin]

Oh ha, this fake stories get me a lot. Probably because they’re almost believable in this day and age... I don’t think that’s a good thing.

[B4Ranch]

I hope he was just using up some old ammo.

[B4Ranch]

I didn’t know if I could put /sarcasm after such a serious sentence.

[NerdDad]

We had something similar happen here in Columbus MS.

A 79 year old Army Ranger caught his much younger wife meeting one of our former city councilmen. The old guy shot the cheating wife and the crack-head cheating former councilman. Then he shot one of our reserve police officers and had a running gun battle with the police chief. He stole the officer’s patrol car and made a run for it. The cops caught up with him after he had stopped in at the local Walmart, bought more ammo and changed clothes.

As he was trying to escape thru a fence one of the officers shot the man from a distance of about 50 feet. The 45 cal bullet hit him in the back of the head. The local news said that he was taken by chopper to Jackson for his injuries.

Turns out that the local authorities arranged to get him out of town because the 3 he shot and their families were all taken to the local hospital. He was returned to our county jail the next day.

The bullet (again, this was a 45 cal police round) broke the skin and gave him a slight concussion. He suffered no other injuries. THE BULLET BOUNCED OFF THE OLD RANGER’S HEAD.

All 3 who he shot survived and have recovered.

Officer Taylor returned to work at his paying job and as an unpaid reserve officer.

The cheating crack-head former councilman (former because of a felony conviction for selling his city cell phone for crack) has been sent to Parchman Penitentiary to serve out what was a suspended sentence. Seems his blood tests revealed that he violated his probation by still being a crack-head.

No word on what happened with the cheating wife or when the trial will be held.

[Farmer Dean]

Should get more than a .38.True story from the late 70’s in Ohio.A cop friend of mine got called to a bar fight/shooting in progress.He gets to the scene and confronts the perp.Perp starts to raise his gun so John fires-striking the perp in the forehead.Guy goes down instantly then starts to get up.The round from John’s .38 failed to penetrate the skull!

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

[who found him guilty of “Failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber.”]

That was delightful. Here I was worried that we had another “Pendleton 8” mess.

That’s right, Smokey. Don’t play with pop guns next time. But it was a good shot.

[B4Ranch]

Read post #24. In it, a .45 bounces off a mans head. What would you suggest if .45’s don’t do the job?

[Thombo2]

“What kind of fish need shooting?”Maybe for the other “critters” you may run into along the way?Yrs ago i was fishin one of the coves in Tierra Verde(near Fort Desoto in StPete)and one of the biggest diamondbacks i’ve ever seen very casually slithered right past me and swam out to a small mangrove island about 30yards out.He was so close i could have spit on em.Talk about shook up.BTW-up to that day i’d been under the impression rattlers had an “aversion” to salt water-not true.

[MindBender26]

Delay is NOT good.

“All I know officer is that

1: He
2: She
-

1: Was trying to break in through my
2: Had broken in to my
-

1: Door
2: Window
3: Home
4: Room
5: Child's room.
-
I had my

1: Shotgun
2: Pistol

-

And told them to stop or I would shoot. They didn't stop, but kept coming toward me and said “I'm going to kill you.” I believed them. I shot in self defense, and now, I'm too shook up to say anything more. Would you please call my lawyer and get any further statements from him.”

Thank you, officer

Repeat as needed.

[PapaBear3625]

If hed used a .45 or something like that the round would have gone right through the perp, the wall, the neighbors wall and possibly injured some innocent child asleep in its bed, he said. I believe the evidence shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He did nothing wrong, and clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man.

A .22 will go thru walls as well. A shotgun loaded with birdshot or skeet load would take the guy down at close range without endangering people in the distance

[MindBender26]

>>>> What would you suggest if .45’s don’t do the job?

Zweihundert und eightly milimeter große Kanon.

(Atomic Annie)

[MindBender26]

zweihundertachtzig milimeter große Kanon

Charles Manson on crack with a knife

My ex. on a Friday night.

Half Hour Harrison. My Army Drill Sergeant. He could curse for 30 minutes without repeating himself.

[jazusamo]

His sentence, however, was suspended given the extenuating circumstance of his being retired and 79 years old.

LOL! And then they all bought him a beer.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

Sounds like he didn’t need a larger caliber!

He may have been of the opinion that big guns are noisy and mess up the dry wall.

[B4Ranch]

I think this is a bit too large.

One particularly intriguing exhibit, which is in no great danger of rusting away, is Atomic Annie, an Atomic Cannon capable of firing a nuclear armed artillery shell to a distance of 18 miles. The idea was to fire it at an opposing army in the field - after the atomic bomb detonates your own soldiers rush in and sweep up the dust!

[B4Ranch]

There’s nothing like an unexpected deadly snake to bring back a mans heightened observation powers of situational awareness.

[41Thunder]

What kind of fish need shooting?

SWORDFISH!!

Haven't you heard...never bring a sword to a gun fight!!! :)

[White Rutter]

This is a great story...It really makes me feel good when I think about all those (some not so) old War Horses sitting around and laughing at the beaten wannabe thief who crawled away with a load in his pants.

I bet a .22 between the eyes that doesn’t penetrate, really, really smarts. Think hitting your head at 1125fps on a sharp corner of your coffee table.

[Thombo2]

Agree:)

[B4Ranch]

>What kind of fish need shooting?
SWORDFISH!!

Haven’t you heard...never bring a sword to a gun fight!!! :)<

girlangler, I would have bet cold, hard cash that you would have known the answer before anyone else. Instead, 41 Thunder marches to the front of the squad to collect the coveted cold beer.