Teddy Medina, The World's Greatest Hitman?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPMEVzv0AO4

“Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have f--ked with?” says Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino. I've met a couple. The kind of guy who doesn't have a whole lot to say, you probably never would have met him if someone else hadn't introduced you, has a cold look in his eyes. Terms like bad ass get thrown around far to freely in this day and age, but I think I've come across a few soldiers in the Special Operations community who truly have all the qualifications.

It's just as well that I never met Teddy Medina, especially when he was still working for the communist insurgents in the Philippines back in the day. Teddy was the best they had, some people say that the body count he racked up over the years went into the triple digits. His training and preparatory work prior to a hit was meticulous, studying the target's patterns, figuring out his every detail down to his height so that he could practice shooting appropriately sized paper targets. Choice of weapon: .45 caliber 1911 pistol. Technique: safety off, one round in the chamber, draw from a concealed position, and fire point bank into the target's face.

For National People's Army (NPA)  hit men it wasn't always a one shot-one kill affair. A second shooter would lay in, and wait while the hit went down. After the target lay bleeding on the ground he would stroll up and deliver a coup de grace. Apparently, Teddy's backup man didn't see much work though. He only fired head shots and was deadly accurate.

Eventually Teddy was captured in what sounds to me like a random, routine traffic stop. His skill set was too valuable for the regime to disappear Teddy or let him rot in prison. Instead, they put him to work assassinating his old comrades in the NPA. Word on the street is that he even did some jobs for the CIA back in the 80's.

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Kit Up! contributor Jack Murphy is a former Ranger, Special Forces Soldier and is the author of the military thriller Reflexive Fire.