Armed American Report

From: Patrick Kilchermann, USCCA Team Member

Yesterday, I set the stage for the story that I’m about to share.

In case you missed yesterday’s email, I encourage you to go HERE and catch up really quickly.

Okay… here goes: How Cody, Seth, and Pat’s ‘Marine Recon Adventure’ almost got a 13-year old Pat Kilchermann killed.
*********************

Our goal was to ‘covertly’ travel from Cody’s house to town through the back-woods.

The plan was simple: The three of us were going to start out from Cody’s house through the woods in a straight line to the south-west until we reached the river.

Once we reached the river, our plan was to follow the river all the way into town. In a straight line, it should have been about five miles, but we knew the river would snake quite a bit and make the journey a little longer than that.

My dad loved the outdoors, and was an avid sportsman, but I knew he’d never let me do it. So when I asked him if I could stay the night at Cody’s… I told him that the reason I was taking my knee-high LaCross Burley’s (boots) was because Cody wanted to go fishing.

I didn’t tell him that my backpack was full of camping and survival supplies, either.

He dropped me off on a Saturday morning at Uncle Pat’s house, I told him that Uncle Pat would probably give me a ride home tomorrow night, and my dad drove out none the wiser.

I went inside, and was greeted by Cody and Seth, who both were already wearing camo pants, packing their backpacks.

…..

One thing you have to understand, is that the area I grew up in was very poor. For example, my father (born in 1963) didn’t even have running water in his house until he was in his early teens.

My parents worked very hard though, and my sister and I had a great quality of life growing up because of it (Thanks guys!). But both Cody and Seth were from ‘rougher’ households, and they were naturally tougher and more fearless as a result.

And, even though they were both several months younger than I was, I respected them both greatly. Where I was a straight-A student who always had nice clothes and did what I was told, Cody and Seth would skip school, throw their homework out of the school bus windows, and smoke cigarettes.

They were tough kids, and since I didn’t join them in their ‘bad’ activities, I had to work hard for their respect.

…..

Cody told me that his parents were gone until noon, and he wrote them a note saying something to the effect of:

Dad,

Staying the night at Seth’s house. See you tomorrow.

-Cody

Our goal was to give us at least a full day before our parents would realize that something was up. We were hoping that would buy us three ‘Marine Recons’ enough time to get to town by following the river.

We should have been able to make it in one day… but we didn’t want them freaking out on us if it took a little longer.

We of course had no cell phones and no map. Seth went unarmed, Cody ‘borrowed’ one of his dad’s sheathed hunting knives, and I had a machete tucked into my back-pack.

Our entire operation depended on actually finding the river, which was a solid mile south-west through the woods (and several chunks of private property) from Cody’s house.

Once we found the river, we would be able to simply follow it- but we had to get there first.

This was Cody’s job, since he knew the area the best. To ensure that we’d get there, he had went up the stairs into his dad’s room (which was a HUGE no-no) and returned with a tiny copper compass- the kind you might pin to the visor of your vehicle.

He said, “My dad used this in Vietnam to save all his friends’ once… so I can’t lose it. My dad will kill me if I lost it.”

I tried to talk him out of taking it… but he wouldn’t hear of it. I remember recognizing even at 13 years old, that Cody just wanted to be like his dad, who we all obviously saw as a war hero.

…….

Cody was a terrible student in school, and had very little respect for his teachers, and it caused a lot of issues between him and Uncle Pat.

It therefore made me very sad to watch as Cody pinned the compass to his jacket- probably the same place Uncle Pat had told him where he had pinned it in Vietnam, I thought- and so I didn’t say anything else about it.

…….

Cody and Seth finished packing… and by ‘finished packing’, I mean they transferred the contents of their backpacks into mine, and thanked me for carrying their gear… ha ha ha. I had the best pack though, and I was happy to have such an important role.

We loaded up a bit of food from Cody’s fridge into my backpack, and we headed out the door.

I’m not sure what I pictured happening on our adventure, but I had obviously not put much thought into it.

I hadn’t checked the weather, we didn’t bring any drinking water, and we didn’t even think to bring any bug-spray…

As the three of us cheerfully crossed the sunny, plowed-up corn field toward the woods about 600 yards away in our nice dry clothes… we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

I had no idea that at eight hours from that moment my life would nearly meet a horrible end.

……………………………………………..

Once again… I’m afraid this is getting a little too long.

I truly HATE to do this to you, but I think I’m going to have to cut this off… don’t worry- I promise tomorrow will be the rest of the story of our Marine-Recon adventure.

Patrick Kilchermann
USCCA Team Member
Become a Member of our Community…

P.S. - Do you know anybody who would JUDGE you for carrying a concealed weapon?

I do… nearly the entire world.

When I first began carrying, I heard a story about someone who had the cops called on him because his gun showed.

I’ve come to learn that this is pretty rare, but it’s such a shame that we have to live in fear of being judged instantly this way.

Here’s what got me thinking about this:

On the USCCA forum today, I saw a thread where someone asked “How many spare magazines is it normal to carry“.

When I read this (and all the kind replies) , I realized that there is no “normal” here, and we don’t judge.

We don’t think you’re weird for carrying one, two, or three guns, and you can carry as many spare magazines as you want.

We understand the armed mentality.

Our community would be a better place with you in it, friend. I hope you’ll join as a full USCCA member today!

Please use the link below to find out more about how to become a member of this family:

=> Become a Member of our Community…

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