Mountain Lines
by Nelson Haas
A RIFLEMAN
I’ve known a lot of riflemen. I grew up with them; WWII veterans and their children. My father brought home a 7.7 Jap. I bought a .303 British for $25.00 and my high school hunting partners had 6.5 Italians, 95 and 98 Mausers and if you were lucky, an ‘03/A3 Springfield.
They were similar in that they all had wooden stocks and open sights.
When we weren’t hunting ground hogs, we were target shooting and we were Riflemen.
A Rifleman is defined as a soldier armed with a rifle or one skilled in shooting a rifle, but that hardly describes a Rifleman.