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The Fire Pit

Lore, Adventure, Stories of Fortune, Books, Entertainment, Veterans’ Issues

Gryphon Air: Collision Course on the Runway at Baghdad

“GRASS IT IF YOU HAVE TO GRASS IT! HIT THE GRASS!” by Mr. Wolf The desert night air hung heavy over Kuwait International Airport as I climbed into the jump seat of the ATR-72. The twin turboprops were already whining to life, their blades slicing through the cooler evening air …

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Inside Toronto’s Chinatown: That Time I Tried to Join the Triads

by Greg Chabot I was attracted to organized crime; it holds a mystique. But there is a dark underside outsiders don’t see. I was working for the railroad, and was assigned to a job in Toronto. I had to stop and get a work visa at the border. Thankfully that …

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‘People Are Getting Killed!’ I Watched Yeltsin’s Tanks Open Fire on Russian Parliament

by Bruce Pannier “Well guys, are we going, or are we going to sit here taking a piss?” It has been many years since the culmination of the so-called Russian constitutional crisis, when the country’s president, Boris Yeltsin, sought to dissolve the parliament and then ordered the military to crush …

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They Called Us Mercenaries, Gunslingers, and Worse: A Contractor’s Story

by Mikial The author tells Soldier of Fortune: “All of my work was with Department of Defense contractors. We never considered ourselves mercenaries although we were called mercenaries, gunslingers, and worse at times. It was difficult and dangerous work and also sometimes boring. We often lived rough in camps and …

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Loose Inside a Plummeting Huey: My Feet Were In the Slipstream; My M60 Was Going Out the Door

The Marine next to me started screaming, which I could clearly hear over the engine and wind noise  by Al Hagan As a Marine Corps lance corporal, I was going through helicopter training at Camp Lejeune. Our bird lands, we jump on, and I find that my seatbelt is adjusted …

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An Angry Rhino, Three Rookie Trackers, and Trouble in Africa: ‘She Wants to Gore Us’

The world of anti-poaching is difficult and dangerous. Especially when you come face to face with an enraged rhinoceros. by S. Anderson I’ve always been fascinated by the African Bush. Lions, Leopards, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, and Rhino. The Big 5. Endless rolling hills, dense bush, and undisturbed ecology. Growing up, …

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