[April 1, 2024] Lightning arced across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. I found myself standing in a doorway to avoid a downpour, and I admit to being shaken a little. Many years ago, when I was a boy, an older man living down the street was someone all of us kids avoided; we were scared of him. Rumor had it that the man had been a natural killer in war. I found myself looking at this man as I stood there dripping wet. He was known in the neighborhood as the “man without a gun.”
As best I could tell, he was middle-aged and a recent Korean War veteran. But he differed from the war veterans I met in our small town. I’d forgotten his name for some reason, yet he was such a big personality that a name mattered little. As I stood in his doorway, I could see inside and there they were, a couple dozen rifles and a few shotguns. In those years, that meant little since hunting was common. It was, however, unusual that he left his home, and we rarely saw him around town.
How could it be possible that a man with so many guns could be called “the man without a gun?” I was invited into his home. He sure talked a lot. From his stories of war to his hunting trips to his family, we talked for what seemed like an hour. After a glass of Kool-Aid, I asked why people called him the man without a gun. He smiled and said that he had been around the world, fighting in two wars and doing those dangerous things soldiers do. Plus, recently, he was a police officer in a big city before moving to my town to be near his mother, who was ill.
Being so young was why I didn’t understand what he was telling me at the time, but he said that he had a fear of leaving his home unarmed. Without a pistol, shotgun, or rifle, he could not do what strong men do: protect the innocent. His mission in life was to protect and defend, and without the right tools – meaning guns – he was just unprepared and weak. He was a fish out of water, walking in public unarmed. But he did it anyway, as a mark of respect for his neighbors.
I can understand his hesitation to be outside unarmed. Each time I returned from one of my long combat tours, I felt naked without my service pistol and rifle. Usually, it took a month or so to adapt, but the feeling slowly disappeared. This man’s ability to adapt to life without a gun as he went about his business was not working. After my family moved out of state to Arkansas, I got to thinking about him and why he felt uneasy (that’s my word) without a gun on him. Now, after having been in combat and living with my rifle and pistol, literally sleeping with them, I now understand.
This man without a gun is the kind of man we want to live near us. He is the one who comes to our defense and protects us from the criminals who would steal or kill us. This man was a dangerous man, but dangerous only to those who would do harm to others. In a way, I feel I’m better at understanding this guy’s “problem.” It’s the kind of problem that we all should have.
Go about your business, be kind and generous to others, but be prepared to shoot bad guys whenever they threaten your family or others. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt said it well, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” In this case, carry a gun, preferably two guns and extra ammo, a backup knife, and bring friends with guns.
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Read earlier articles like this one “Gunfighting Advice: Wyatt Earp” at this link here.
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NOTE: If you want to see a good movie, see “Man with the Gun” (1955) starting Robert Mitchum. You can see the movie for free on Tubi, link here. Highly recommended. The thumbnail for my article is taken from this film.
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Please read my books:
“Go about your business, be kind and generous to others, but be prepared to shoot bad guys whenever they threaten your family or others. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt said it well, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” In this case, carry a gun, preferably two guns and extra ammo, a backup knife, and bring friends with guns.”
Excellent job my friend Gen Douglas. We are our brothers keeper. Good neighbors take care of that community not destroying their own. Your man without a gun was a good neighbor. As you explained you learned why he did what he did. We learn best by life experience.
👍 Spot on comment, Eddie.
Gen. Satterfield, thanks for the “short story” that covers a part in your life and giving us something to think about, to think about for men and young boys. We do, inherently, want to be protectors and defenders of the weak and infirm. That is why we are here. And, that is a unique idea, not duplicated in the animal kingdom to the extent that it is in humans. Again, I appreciate your blog and hope to make more comments over the next few months.
Hi Martin, great to see you back. Hope you and your family are well. Good points here. Let’s see how Gen. Satterfield tackles the problems of today on being a real man and let us also enjoy his short stories. 👀
Gen. Satterfield, once again, nails it. This short story is great. Please give us some more.
What I love about Gen. Satterfield’s blog is that on occasion, he will write a story of his growing up and how that story links to his success in adulthood. He is careful to draw a clear line between those older memories to his newer experiences. This is important because it shows a link within humanity that none of us should ignore. Thank you, sir for your stories and giving us an article daily to contemplate.
❤ YES, love this story ❤
We all do, I think.
Veronica your so right
Gen. Satterfield, excellent story and I loved reading it because it was about you as a little kid just doing little kid stuff.
Wow, who could not love this site by Gen. Satterfield? Give the link to your friends and relatives and let them read https://www.theleadermaker.com and see what they think. ❤
What I liked about this article was that it is showing the mental development of a little boy. He is learning something very important, and what he learns is not in school or church or in his family, but on his own. He is learning that there is something unsaid and special about our combat veterans and that there is a psychological need to be armed with a gun (or club or something) to not just protect himself from the bad guys, but to protect and defend those who cannot defend themselves. In America, we’ve gotten away from those skills, and IMHO that is not a good thing becuase it makes us dependent upon others like the police to protect us. Now when those same protectors from the government are corrupt, like the FBI and DOJ, then now we have a serious problem of great magnitude. thanks for listening to my rant.
You say it, brother.
This has many advantages. I know that Gen. Doug Satterfield has written here in his blog that he was slow to develop maturity but I don’t see that in his letters to his granddaughter or in short stories like this. I hope he prints more of them.
False idols. Point on
God Bless General Satterfield and his family.
Gen. S., thanks for a good story to read.
Exactly, Boy Sue. That is just one of the reasons that I’m a huge fan of Gen. Satterfield, Eddie Gilliam, Sadako Red, and many of those who write for this educational blog. Uplifting and encouraging. That is what Gen. Satterfield does for me.
😊😊😊😊😊 Well said.
You folks are on it……….!!!!
Kenny Foster
Tks for comments .I enjoy reading and writing for my friend Gen Douglas Satterfield blog.
Loved the story, thank you, Gen. Satterfield. Oh, I just wanted to tell you that I finally finished your book “55 Rules for a Good Life” for the third time re-reading it. Such a wonderful book. I gave my copy to my mother to read and she is telling me so far that she is now a big fan of yours. Thanks!!!!
https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/
“Go about your business, be kind and generous to others, but be prepared to shoot bad guys whenever they threaten your family or others. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt said it well, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” In this case, carry a gun, preferably two guns and extra ammo, a backup knife, and bring friends with guns.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield. Another wonderful quote, with a quote. Gen. Satterfield sure knows what he is writiing about. Thank you, sir for your wisdom.
Exactly why I read this blog daily. You will also be surprised, maybe not, that I have made myself better, much better, and Gen. Satterfield is the real man who help motivate me. We all need motivating sometimes, and this is what motivates me. I really liked this story and can understand the man who didn’t like going out without his gun, and how it made him feel naked or exposed to evil. That is something we are being conditioned in society today to NOT do. sad.
Well said, Maximillian and Edward. 👍
I hope we are all making ourselves better. And I just finished reading “55 Rules for a Good Life.”
Gen. Satterfield, great job. Loved the article today. A bit of a throw back to the old days. ha ha ha ha ha
If you want to see a good movie, see “Man with the Gun” (1955) starting Robert Mitchum. You can see the movie for free on Tubi, link here. Highly recommended. – Gen. Doug Satterfield and, yes, I did watch the film and several times. It is one of my favorites. I really like Robert Mitchum.