Posted on 09/17/2008 9:41:54 AM PDT by Rebelbase
FORT BRAGG (AP) — The Army says a Special Forces trainee found dead this summer during a land navigation exercise in North Carolina was bitten by a poisonous water moccasin, also known as a cottonmouth.
The military said Wednesday the autopsy of 20-year-old Pfc. Norman M. Murburg of Dade City, Fla., ruled out heat or dehydration as a cause of death. Murburg was bitten multiple times while training at the Hoffman training area near Fort Bragg's Camp Mackall.
Soldiers began searching for Murburg when he didn't return from the exercise. His body was found June 10. Authorities met with Murburg's family to explain the autopsy results.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Csrnko, who commands the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, said the death reinforces the dangerous training for Green Beret candidates.
Hoffman is where the land navigation and (sometimes) the “events” for SF Selection take place..as well as large portions of the SF “Q” course...humped those sandy hills mucho...more than once was “busting a draw” only to realize that if i got hurt they’d find my body 6 months later if my family was lucky....
You and I both (Class 3-88). The southern end was particularly swampy.
Trying to handle a snake means the handler is aggressive.
When I was growing up, we had a half acre pond across the street from us. It attracted all kinds of snakes including moccasins. When I was 10 years old we had a drought, and the pond dried up to about 20 ft by 20 ft. Minnows and tadpoles were all concentrated in the remaining pond. The snakes were having a feast.
I walked out onto a narrow (maybe 3 feet wide) peninsula of land that stuck out into that drought-reduced pond. After a minute of standing at the end of the land looking at the pond, I heard some rustling in the thin weeds behind me. It was a 3 ft long cottonmouth about 18 inches from my leg. Its mouth was wide open and pointed in my direction. The snake hadn’t been there when I walked up. It was swishing the end of its tail back and forth in the weeds. That was what made the rustling sound.
It was a standoff. I didn’t want to make any sudden moves that would cause the snake to strike. Fortunately, I had my BB gun with me. It was cocked since I had been looking for something to shoot. I slowly twisted my upper body toward the snake without moving my feet. At the same time I slowly lowered the gun and aimed it at the roof of the cottonmouth’s open mouth.
I shot and the cottonmouth started twisting in pain. I kept cocking and shooting at its head as fast as I could. Eventually the snake stopped moving. It was probably just stunned as the BB gun was not all that powerful. I ran back to the house and told my dad, who then took a pistol over to the pond and finished the snake.
It is a wonder I ever grew up.
I had one fall into a john boat with me at Caddo Lake when I was about 15 or so.
We fought, I won. Paddle was a bit worse for wear.
bump for later
this thread reminded me of your recent wood cutting days...
sorry Ern, hh check above post please...
My family lives on Currituck Sound (brackish water) in northeastern NC. Many years ago when they first moved there my parents were out fishing in one of the canals that connect to the sound. A cottonmouth came after their boat and was repeatedly striking the boat as my daddy wailed on it with the boat oar. He finally was able to drive it off, but from then on he never went fishing without his pistol that was loaded with snakeshot.
I saw one swimming in the Pamlico Sound on the backside of Ocracoke last year.
Do you two know each other?
I just remembered another cottonmouth story. Back in 1989 we were on vacation up in Maggie Valley. There was a zoo there that had a large collection of snakes, and they also had a snake pit where one of the employees would give presentations on the different kinds of snakes. The most aggressive snake in that entire pit was a baby cottonmouth. None of the others bothered him, but that little thing struck his boot again and again where you could see the teethmarks and venom spots. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.
Tell her this: And it is very, very important that she knows:
Where we are fighting right NOW has nothing to do with where we WILL BE fighting in the future. We won’t always deploy into deserts in a MidEast area.
Making it worse, since we’ve fought several times in the desert (recently! Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq (twice), Kuwait, and Saudi deployments) there is LOTS of experience about how to do that. That keeps everybody and safer and better prepared - but ONLY for that kind of desert environment.
Older skills (like fighting in jungles and the European area and extremely cold winter areas) are very easy to get lost, and stay lost, if you don’t re-train regularly. Re-learning those lessons is one of the most costly, most wasteful cause of deaths early in every war.
Cook is right. We have to be ready to fight in any type of terrain at any time.
That's for sure - My grandson's unit spent the winter in the high Hindu Kush range in northeastern 'ghan - on a tiny firebase they literally pickaxed out of a mountainside - no running water, no PX or 'mess hall' - only shelter what they could cobble together - no heat for the majority of hours. Then the summers in up to 130 degrees - in full gear - and the mountain terrain that challenges mountain goats -
There's another article on his unit in the current (Oct) issue of Vanity Fair - There was a documentary last year on them on ABC, an article in Feb in VF, a cover story on them in NYTIMES Mag., and there will be a movie and book coming up. This little band from the 173rd ARIBORNE - "The Rock" has made quite a name for themselves - and were in over 1,000 firefights in their 15 month deployment. They've done their part - but, of, course, will be going back. (12 of them recently were given medals by Admiral Mullen himself, (grandson inc.) as the Admiral knew them well and insisted on going there and giving them the medals personally.
link to last article: (and live link next post) http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/10/afghanistan200810 link to article:
- Jonah
Legend: An unlucky water skier topples into a nest of deadly water moccasins
Legend: An unlucky water skier topples into a nest of deadly water moccasins
Sobering bravery. My salutes.
I hate snakes. I guess perhaps one of the few advantages of living in New England - not alot of venomous snakes and you have to go looking for a rattler.
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