THOSE WITH MAGICAL POWERS

I often referred to Sureshot and Chingachgook as Frick and Frack because they were inseparable — wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. Regardless of the mission’s difficulty, they were not separated by more than a body length.

Both men were born and raised on the Kiowa Apache Hill Reservation in Oklahoma and appeared as twins looking and behaving the same. They possessed stocky builds and long legs. They seldom laughed aloud or grimaced at an odious task. Instead, Sureshot and Chingachgook were stoic, intense men endowed with almost mystical abilities.

I cannot attest if it was their Kiowa blood, upbringing, or military training but their expertise with weapons and jungle warfare was on a level that followed legends. Or at least I thought so.

How could Sureshot train his weapon on a target at any distance and always hit the mark? It did not matter if he was aiming the sniper rifle, M16, or handgun. Lock, load, aim, fire, and the object went down. As for Chingachgook, there was not a plant or tree he did not recognize, and he intrinsically understood what vegetation was edible. His eyesight and senses were animal-heightened. When staring into the jungle, Chingachgook could determine if an anomaly existed, if the ground was disturbed, or smell the remnants of the enemy. His talents were unusual, but we all possessed the same magic because…