GREENBUSH – It took two intruders just a few minutes to learn a very valuable lesson Sunday night: Once a Marine, always a Marine.

Especially if the Marine is Larry Leighton of Greenbush.

After hours of searching for two men who had forced their way into the decorated former Marine sergeant’s home with a rifle, police found Shawn Cameron, 37, of Bangor as he was being treated for two gunshot wounds to his right leg, Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said. The second man who allegedly invaded Leighton’s home, Jack Monroe, 41, of Milford, was found driving a car on the Crocker Turn Road in Greenbush.

Both men were taken to Penobscot County Jail and charged with terrorizing with a firearm, McCausland said. Both will make their initial court appearance in 3rd District Court in Bangor today.

It was around 7:30 p.m. Sunday when Leighton, 57, a Purple Heart recipient, received a call from Cameron who said that he had a friend who wanted a coon cat. Leighton raises, trains and sells coon cats. He quoted a price of $500 to Cameron, who said he’d be over in a half-hour.

But Leighton, who lives alone, knew there was more to the phone call. He found his 9 mm handgun and placed it in the drawer of his desk, where it could be easily reached if trouble should arise, he said.

“Shawn had given me trouble before and Jack had already left a couple of messages [earlier that night],” Leighton said Monday. “I knew something was up.”

A half-hour later, a blue van stopped at the end of Leighton’s driveway on the Aloha Road, Leighton said. Leighton watched as the two men emerged from the van and a third man, whom police have not identified and are still seeking, handed a .30-30 rifle to Cameron.

The two men approached Leighton outside and Monroe began to inquire about Leighton’s relationship with Monroe’s girlfriend, Leighton said. Eventually, Cameron and Monroe forced Leighton back into his home to continue the conversation.

The trouble that Leighton had had with Cameron was because Cameron’s girlfriend also had visited Leighton in the past, the veteran said.

“They forced me into the house because Jack had something he wanted to get off his chest,” Leighton said. “Jack was blowing off steam, he’s right in love … he just had some outspoken things to say.”

Leighton explained that Monroe’s girlfriend visits to talk about things to help herself calm down, and Cameron’s girlfriend had joined her during one visit. Monroe accepted Leighton’s explanation and “mellowed out,” Leighton said. Satisfied, Monroe took the rifle from Cameron as Monroe walked out the door on his way back to the van.

“Shawn had different ideas though,” Leighton said. “Shawn wanted to rob me and grabbed me by the throat.”

Cameron demanded Leighton’s money and Leighton told him that he could have his money.

“I opened the drawer [of my desk] where the keyboard was and [Cameron] asked what I was doing,” Leighton said. “I told him I was getting what he told me to and then I pulled it out.”

Leighton fired two shots as Cameron ran outside and one more as he ran back to the van, Leighton said.

Leighton’s military training “just kicked in,” he said. “Once you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine.”

Leighton thought he might have hit Cameron, but he wasn’t sure. “I didn’t even qualify with a pistol, but I’m an expert with a rifle,” he said. “I knew I could handle Jack [by talking to him], but this Shawn was another cup of tea.”

Police spent more than six hours looking for the two men and continued to look for the unidentified third man and the blue van Monday, McCausland said. Orono and Veazie police made a welfare check on Cameron at the home of Cameron’s girlfriend in a Veazie trailer park, and found that he was injured. At 2 a.m., police took Cameron into custody. He was taken by Capital Ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center. His injuries were not life-threatening; both bullets passed through his right leg.

Police found blood inside Monroe’s home on the Greenfield Road in Milford, indicating that the group had returned there after the shooting, officials said. The events of that night are under investigation.

A description of the third man and the van is not available, McCausland said.

Leighton doesn’t care what happens to the men from here.

“Let the state do what they want,” he said. “I just don’t want them around my home.”

The veteran, who served part of a tour in the Vietnam War when a grenade exploded near him and lodged shrapnel in his forehead and one of his arms, wishes Sunday night never had happened.

“I don’t want to kill nobody. I served my time and paid my dues,” Leighton said. “I just want to be left alone.”