There was an evil feeling in the air and I did not know if I would make it through this mission. We were four weeks out of B.T. (Bushytail Training.) I was only a corporal and still nervous from lack of experience. We were on a B.E.M (Bushytail Extraction Mission,) it was my third B.E.M. and I was close to one of my mission commanders while the other was on recon about two klicks away. Me and my commander were scanning the trees for our enemy. They are our abomination! My commander spotted two of the evil defiants about one and half klicks, still too far away for H.Q. had only allotted us two semi-automatic 22 caliber long rifles and one 16 gauge shot gun so it would have to be a search and purge. We had to be good because we had to get close!

As we continued to search I began to sweat constantly having to check our six for underground surprise attacks. As I turned around my commander said to me "soldier take that one!," I looked and only saw the two we had seen before "those are still two far away." Then he pointed out that the agent of evil was coming down a tree right on our position. As I raised my rifle, Charlie bolted out of sight but not before I shot three short controlled bursts at him, the first ran him right up the rear as he sped away, pieces of his sin filled flesh exploded when he got his! Unfortunately the other two missed.

I looked over at my commander who was ducking to prevent shells of God's hot justice from hitting him in the face.

Then we had to bum rush so the little bastard could not get away. We ran for what seemed to be years, but as we ran I saw a flash of red up in the trees obviously a fox squirrel's red bushytail wrapped around the tree lying, still trying to hide. His satinistic plan did not work! I set up a scope shot, of course right up his butt and it did him well. And of course the demon was not going to sit there while I screwed him with 22 bullets.

So he took off and I unloaded the rest of my magazine "get some, get some," I yelled. As twelve bullets speeded towards him with all the blessing of God on them! It was hard to tell how many hit and how many missed. Then the damn freak ran to the place of certain doom, a huge nest in the top of a tree. It went there to die and my commander and I knew it. It would have been a good day only we were on an extraction mission so we had to take it with us. We needed more research on the bushytail. So we tried to sit him out but death was coming too slowly for us, so we decided to get him to leave the only way we know how! We both started raining shots all around the nest and probably up it as well. Morale was low, and as my commander took one last shot through the nest, that squirrel flew three feet out of the nest and started to run down the tree.

I only had one shot left and it would have to be good. My commander began to hose it and as it ran through my sights, it was all over. As the blood of the dead enemy ran through the ground, my heart was filled with such a deep satisfaction!

"Good work soldier," my commander said to me, "you have tasted death again." It did me well and it earned me the rank of Major. Please remember that all bushytail are watching and they must die!

Major Kelly Moynahan