Squeak, I had a similar experience. It was in Fairbanks, Alaska. My mom was bed-ridden...8 months pregnant. My dad was on alert at Ladd AFB. We lived in a cabin in Grail, Alaska...really isolated in the middle of the winter.

A fellow hung around a window for about an hour, then broke the window and came in. I shot him in the knee with my little 410 over/under Savage, and kept the gun on him until daylight. My little brother bundled up and went to the neighbors (about 300 yards away in minus degree weather) to get help.

The wierd thing is, this guy got out of jail a year later, and I'd see him limping around downtown Fairbanks.

The Air Force made me see a military psychologist who asked me how I felt about what had happened. I told him that the only thing I wasn't sure of is wether I should have killed him or not.

I have regretted what happened all my life, but, given the situation, I didn't have a choice. The guy had been assaulting women and robbing them.

So sad...

Russ