:43:20
When I was a kid, a bunch of us
would go into the woods
:43:23
with our peashooters.
:43:25
Nothing fancy, just enough
to kill a bird or a squirrel,
:43:29
maybe something larger
if we was lucky.
:43:33
Killed my first man
in them woods.
:43:36
Held the paper on our farm,
and after my pa died,
:43:41
he'd come around to get payment
from my mom in any way he could.
:43:46
Weren't much older than Button
when I shot him in the throat.
:43:51
Knew there'd be more killing, so
I run off and joined the Army.
:43:55
War was on.
:43:57
They was only too happy
to have me.
:44:01
My first skirmish was like
hunting with my friends.
:44:04
We just sat up in some trees,
and they came marching at us.
:44:10
Must have been a hundred of them
dead after the smoke cleared.
:44:14
Went around and shot the rest
who weren't.
:44:18
Those of us with the knack
was made into a special squad
:44:21
so we could travel light
and on our own
:44:24
into enemy territory.
:44:27
Orders were pretty simple.
Make trouble wherever we could.
:44:31
With room like that, it wasn't
long before we was killing men
:44:35
that weren't even in uniform.
:44:39
Seemed like that went on
the rest of the war.
:44:43
After that, I come West.
:44:46
Lot of call for a man
with them skills.
:44:50
And I put them to work
for men just like Baxter.
:44:58
Every once in a while,
I almost get through a day