Don't mess with Smokey Taylor

Retiree Andy Vaquera relates this story; believed to be a true account of Smoky Taylor.

BREVARD, Jan. 19, 2008 - Retired Army Green Beret "Smokey" Taylor got his
court martial this weekend and came away feeling good about it.

Taylor, at age 80 the oldest member of Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces
Association, was on trial by his peers under the charge of "failing to use a
weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at his home in
Knoxville, TN, in December.

The entire affair, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. Taylor had been
awakened in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2007, when an intruder broke
into his home. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in
hand.

When the intruder threatened him with a knife, Taylor warned him, then
brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.

"That boy had the hardest head I've ever seen," Taylor said after his trial.
"The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of
the room then got up and ran out the door and down the street. Knoxville
police apprehended him a few blocks away and he now awaits trial in the Knox
County jail.

The charges against Taylor were considered to be serious. He is a retired
Special Forces Weapons Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the
wars in Korea and Vietnam .
"Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have
saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter XXXIII
President Bill Long of Asheville. "He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22
just wasn't big enough to get the job done."

Taylor 's defense attorney, another retired Weapons Sergeant, disagreed. He
said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to arm himself with a .22.

"If he'd used a .45 or something like that the round would have gone right
through the perp , the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly injured some
innocent child asleep in its bed," he said. "I believe the evidence shows
that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He
did nothing wrong, and clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons
man."

Counsel for the defense then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced
off the perp's forehead.
"He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea and
again in Vietnam , when his units were issued ammo left over from World War
II."

Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his peers
to debate the matter. After the trial he said the ammunition was indeed old
and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he
crawled out of the house.

"I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through his
forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."

Following testimony from both sides, Taylor was acquitted of the charges and
was given a round of applause.

Meanwhile, back in Knox County , the word is out: Don't go messing with
Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.