Humans weren’t the only enemy.

Heroes Remember

Humans weren’t the only enemy.

Transcript

I was with a major by the name of Kit Letourneau. Kit was a very valued warrior from the last war, etc. We got up there at night, so we found an empty dugout, we went in there and there were some cots made up of signal wire wrapped around wiring posts. We threw sleeping bags down and we laid down and we went to sleep. When we got up in the morning, I swung over the side of the cot and stared over at Kit and there he was lying there with his eyes wide open and around his leg was a snake wrapped around, a great big constrictor or some kind, you see. And when I sat up, the ugly old head came up. And uh, whoa, I said “I’ll shoot it”, and Kit shook his head, “No, no!”. “I tell you what I’ll do, Major. You raise up and the snake will swivel around and look at you and I’ll grab it by the head and pull it off.” That’s what we did, and I got this thing. It didn’t want to let go, I guess Kit’s leg was nice and warm, you know. We heaved and heaved and finally got it off and I threw it outside the dugout. Then I took my pistol and I emptied the magazine at it, I never hit it. (Laughs) And Kit, I turned around and looked at him and he was staring at me. And he said, “And you were gonna shoot that off my leg!” (Laughs)

Description

Mr. Bowen describes his rather humorous rescue of a buddy from a boa constrictor.

Gerald Bowen

Gerald R. Bowen was born in Ottawa, Ontario on October 13, 1925. He attended Lisgard High School, and was a paperboy. His family had prior military experience. His uncle had served in the Air Force and his father in the Army, later becoming an historian with the Department of National Defence. Mr. Bowen enlisted in the Navy where he became a telegrapher, serving aboard a Royal Canadian Navy frigate on convoy duty in the North Atlantic until the war ended. He left the service for a brief time and re-enlisted in the Canadian Army, where he became a paratrooper and a specialist in sabotage. He later served as a peacekeeper in Cyprus. Mr. Bowen’s extensive experience in the Canadian military offers us some very informative and perceptive anecdotes.

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