A listener writes “I am a Marine. It was all I ever wanted to be. I was stationed in California, Camp Pendleton. During 1994, I was going through a bad time in my marriage.
I put my focus into my military career. I was a young team leader, and wanted to do everything I could to be the best, and make my wife and family proud. I trained hard. When I found out about my training schedule, my now ex wife started up a metric shit-ton of drama and left me to go back with her parents, taking my two small children with her. It was everything I could do to hold myself together, and not let this show to my unit. I was determined to be what I set out to be. A Marine. I was scheduled to go on extended training sessions, to 29 Palms, California for desert warfare training, and then a month after returning from that we were scheduled to hit Bridgeport, California, the Marine Corps cold weather training center. Bridgeport is up in the mountains, not far from the boarder of Nevada, if I remember correctly. I kept telling my guys “You guys dont know what COLD is” You see, I am from Buffalo, NY, LOL and we get hazed about all the snow we get whenever I tell anyone where I am from. Sorry if I get off topic. Anyways, we had been there about a week, and we were out on a cold weather patrol, and I had been having a great time. My team kept me occupied so I had been able to forget about my home troubles for a few days. A great bunch of guys!
Anyways, while on patrol one night, I had pulled guard duty with one of the other team leaders, and we stood there outside smoking a cigarette, recounting the classes we had been given, exchanging training ideas and generally just shooting the shit. After we had put our smokes out, I said that I had to take a piss to which he joked “I’m gonna leave a piss and go get warm”. We walked about 25-30 yards from our Bivouac site, just outside the tree line and proceeded to take care of business. Just 25 seconds or so later, my partner quickly turned and walked away, mumbling “get the F*** outta here” or “I gotta get out of here”. I guess the smart thing to do would have been to run with him, but that just isnt me.
I was more*so curious and not scared up to this point. I wanted to know what had made my partner run like that. I suppose I should set the stage a bit more, sorry. It was about 0315-0330 Hrs and it was deadly still (which I wasnt complaining about, the wind had been absolutely brutal) the temps were extremely cold, the kind that make the inside of your nasal passages freeze up, ya know? Anyways, I digress. My partner had been standing to my Right side about 10 feet from me staring straight ahead before he took off, and the tents at our Biv site were behind me and to my left, about 25-30 yards.
There was about 12-18 inches of fresh wet snow on the ground, you know, the good snowball kind that packs nice and tight. So anyway, I looked to my right, at the tree line where my partner had been standing, and I noticed the tree branches were shaking, swaying back and forth kinda gently. But there was NO WIND. I could see that when I exhaled. the steam just seemed to drift upwards without a care in the world. As I looked up, watching my breath, I noticed it in the moonlight, coming out of the tree branches. The breath. Alot of it. As I watched this, I heard a very muffled, yet unmistakable growl. I was on a heightened state of alert, and as I brought my rifle to the “ready”, I found myself walking TOWARDS this growl. I remember being very curious, but at the same time, i was just as curious as to WHY I was walking towards this noise. I didnt have live rounds in my weapon, only blanks, and a red BFA on the muzzle. The BFA Stands for a “Blank Firing Adapter” which completley plugs up the barrel of my M-16A2, keeping the pressure from escaping the barrel, allowing it to be used to cycle the bolt carrier, thus chambering another round after the previous is fired. Blanks dont produce enough pressure, which the M-16A2 required, to cycle the Bolt, ejecting the spent cartridge and chambering another.. Anyways, sorry for rambling. Back to the story. I only had blanks. I dont know what I would have done with them. I guess I thought it was a bear or something that I could scare away with the noise of the rifle firing. I just wasnt sure what this was. So I walked forward, Rifle at the “ready” and I stopped about 6-8 ft from the tree line, I just stopped dead. I dont know why. I remember thinking to myself, WTF am I doing?
At this moment, I remember my eyes starting to burn. My nose was on fire, all from the cold. My eyes started to water and when I reached up to wipe away the tears, I saw it. It had stepped out from the tree line. At first it was just a shadow, an outline, but as I looked harder I could make out details in the moonlight. This thing was about 11 ft tall if it was an inch, and it was EASILY 4-5 ft wide at the shoulders if not more. I was 6’1″ 218 Lbs not a small guy, but this thing dwarfed me in a way that made me feel insignificant. Not scared immediately, but just insignificant…puny. I stood there staring at this thing Just wondering what I was seeing and why wasnt I feeling scared shitless? This seemed to last for hours but was closer to 2-3 minutes, more than likely. All of a sudden it moved to its side and I raised my rifle at it. The thing went f****ing apeshit, No pun intended. It seemed to grow 6 inches to a foot or more and its shoulders widened the same way and I realized that it had been slumped forward, hunched at the shoulders. When I raised my rifle to shoot, (not thinking about the blanks in my magazine), This thing must have recognized what it was and known what it could do. It SCREAMED/ROARED at me so loud and so guttural, that it made my insides vibrate. I lost control of my bowels, and froze. I remember thinking “If you dont leave now, Youre going to die” This was a very firm thought and I felt sure that if I didnt move I was going to literally DIE. The roar was a combination of a roar, like that of a lioness and a deep, guttural moan. I was later able to explain it better after doing some research….. Combine A howl/moan like the Ohio sounds with a growl that is emminating from DEEP inside this thing. It was so DEEP and SO loud….I froze. It just stood there and looked at me, and even in the shadows of the moonlight I could see facial features. Its eyes were Deep set, wide cheek bones, a HUMAN shaped mouth and lips and narrow, but square shaped teeth. The canines were PROMINENT but not what I would call “fangs”. The look on the face was what held me in fear. It was grinning…a faint but noticeable grin…evil as all hell. It was the cross between a scowl and the grin of a kid…..innocent but yet there were other things driving it forward. Mischievious is a decent word to use, but there was a very hostile, even EVIL undertone to its grin. I have never seen that look ever again, and I am a horror movie junkie.
Anyway, it “barked” at me and this brought me back to reality. I lowered my rifle and began to walk backwards very slowly. It didnt exactly advance towards me as I backed away, but it “taunted” me, like school kids facing off to fight, That fake jump, thrusting the chest out and bringing its arms and shoulders up, with its hands cupped, elbows out, and hands and forearms pointing straight down. Much like the stance that The ORIGINAL Incredible Hulk used to take when it wanted the bad guys to back off. Thats exactly the feeling I got. Even in my head, I HEARD a deep growling voice say BACK OFF. I have no clear idea what the voice was. But I followed its suggestion and continued to back away until I was about 18-20 yards away from it. I then turned and walked back to the Bivouac area still turned halfway to try and watch this creature. Just before I got back to camp, I looked to see where I was going for just a split second, but when I turned back to look at it, it was gone. I could still feel its eyes but the feeling of death and danger was subsiding. I went back into camp and changed my underwear, then I woke everyone up. I talked to my partner, who had left me there alone with that thing, and we both agreed that it was best if we broke camp early, but he offered no explanation or even an apology. The rest of the patrol went by uneventful, even though I could STILL feel like that things eyes were on me.
I dont believe in SASQUATCH, Wes. I KNOW it exists, and I dont think that they are friendly. I am reading stories about it helping lost hunters, especially children, but for every calm, benevolent story I come up with, I can seem to find 3-4 stories of how violent and evil they are. I dont claim to know everything, but I know 2 things for sure….1) The creature that I encountered was extremely agitated. It was as though it was taunting me to challenge it. Looking back, it probably thought I was, because I didnt run away at first sight…I kept advancing. Maybe it was considering me as a threat and I began to back away at just the last possible second??? Maybe. And Finally, the second thing I know is that I AM NOT 10 Ft. tall and invincible. That distinction now falls to him. Oh, and yes…it was A HE.
Well, sir. That is my story. I am sorry for my spelling or typo’s, but even telling this in daylight makes me shake and become nauseous. I hope you have the time to read this. I welcome any questions you may have, and will answer them as best as I can. Below I will include some contact info, should you wish to ask any questions.I also recently bought a month subscription to Sasquatch Chronicles. My name in the blog comes up as Dave W, just as in my Email address. With that, I will say so long, and I hope that this mail finds you in good health and spirits. Semper Fi, Wes, and thanks for what you do.”