The AP writers had to have muddled this over for hours before deciding that "former" Marine was better than "ex", as there just hadda be a way to discribe him as discharged.

"What do you call it when five goblins armed with a shotgun and a pistol decide to assault a Marine armed with only a pocket knife?

You call it: Stupid, stupid goblins.

A former Marine turned the tables on his attackers, killing one and wounding another with a knife as they tried to rob him, police said.

What’s this “former Marine” stuff? Somebody kindly set the Associated Pricknuggets straight on the issue: THERE IS NO SUCH THING."

Misha relates the whole stupid affair, and the moral of the story is to never, ever, piss off the hi-speed/low-drag among us.