War at home.

Korean War veteran Willie Brown said that at 6:45 a.m. on the morning of June 15, he imagined he was back in a foxhole in Korea because an intruder was menacing him in his house. And like in Korea, when threatened, he fought.

Brown explained the incident to St. Louis' KPLR WB11TV: "I said, what you doin' here? He said, 'I got a knife, don't move.' I said you got a knife, and he said yeah.... So I had my hand down here at nay side, my pillow was nearby and I kept a gun under it. I said okay partner, you're right, then I shot him."

The intruder then said "whoops" and fled downstairs and back through the window that he had broken to gain entry to the house, according to a description of the incident in the Post-Dispatch. Brown fired second and third shots at the intruder as the man fled. Two of Brown's shots struck home, but the criminal still managed to make it to his getaway car and drive away. But he was arrested nearby when he almost caused an accident with a police squad car.

Brown, a former Green Beret, told WFMY News 2 that he always sleeps with a gun under his pillow because he learned in Korea that protection is an individual responsibility. He said that in Korea he "slept in a foxhole with 5 hand grenades, a .45 automatic, and a M-1 rifle." He added that these days, one must protect oneself because otherwise "you are going down, because [criminals] don't care whether you're old, young, whatever. Woman or man, they'll take you out. They don't care."

The intruder, Don Brewer, was charged with home invasion and residential burglary.