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When I was a boy, my dad and his friends used to talk a lot about WWII and what they experienced as soldiers. I was born in 1947, so I remember how fresh those memories were in the minds of my dad and his buddies. These were the guys that were part of the "Greatest Generation." I think all the talking probably helped them get through their "Battle Fatigue" and distress at being young men tasked with killing other young men.
My dad was in a tank battalion and alternated between driving a tank and driving a truck. Both were important jobs. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. When the Germans had finally been pushed back into Germany, he was ordered out of his tank and back into the driver's seat of a truck. He was then temporarily assigned to a Graves Registration unit. He had a foot locker full of pistols and holsters that he had taken off of the dead German soldiers that he had helped to pick up and haul to temporary cemeteries. There were Walther P-38's, PPK's, Mauser HSc's, Radoms and an assortment of revolvers. There were also two Lugers. I took quite a fancy to those guns and dad said that I could have them if I wanted. Lots of my friends had dads that were in the army during WWII and I wasn't the only one with a handgun. We used to play "army" all the time and many of us that couldn't afford a cap gun had a real handgun with the magazine removed. There were plenty of Army/Navy stores around, GI Joes being just one of them. I remember when it was in a huge tent that smelled like some kind of petroleum product. There were wooden barrels filled with British Lee Enfield .303 Jungle carbines at $10.00 each. They had never been fired. Lots of German KAR 98's too. $10.00 each.
When my friends and I turned out to play army, we were also dressed in the appropriate gear. We had helmets, cartridge belts, chevrons, packs, you name it, we had it.
But, back to my story about the Lugers. As time passed, my dad's buddies would find out that I liked Lugers and eventually I had over a dozen of them. They would give them to me and tell me the story about how they got them. One of them was a WWI artillery model with a great, long barrel and a wood stock that snapped into place on the handle. It wasn't a 9MM but rather a 7.65MM, if my fading memory is correct.
Dad belonged to the NRA and we would get the American Rifleman magazine every month. On the back page you could buy NRA "very good" 1911A1's for $20.00 or a nice .30 carbine for the same price. Dad bought a couple of each one and they all turned out to be new. The oddest gun that I saw advertised in quantity was a 20MM anti-aircraft gun complete with harness and half circles that you put your shoulders into. Shells were $1.00 and the gun alone was $100.00.
As time passed and I grew to be a teenager, my thoughts turned from guns and ammo to pursuit of the fairer sex. In order to enjoy the company of these delightful companions a vehicle of some kind was required. I was already working two jobs and going to school so I was going to need an additional source of capital to acquire a set of wheels that would set me apart from my fellows, who were also in pursuit of these lovelies. Ah Ha! My mind turned towards the chest of drawers in my room and the one drawer that contained an arsenal of WWII weaponry. I started selling off my Lugers, bayonets, Nazi armbands, belt buckles and SS cap badges. I got as much as $100.00 for my Lugers. The artillery model went for $200.00. Oh how clever I was! Dad said that I might want to reconsider selling all those guns, but what did he know? He had never seen the lovely girls that I was planning on taking to the drive in, in my car! Eventually I got a 1956 Chevy 2 door hardtop and then put a bored and stroked 283 cu.in engine in it topped off with two four barrels and coupled to a four speed transmission. I took the car to Mexico and had it upholstered in a metal flake Tuck N' Roll. The girls loved it and I was soon hated by many of the girl's fathers.
In retrospect, I should have kept the Lugers.
My dad was in a tank battalion and alternated between driving a tank and driving a truck. Both were important jobs. He was in the Battle of the Bulge. When the Germans had finally been pushed back into Germany, he was ordered out of his tank and back into the driver's seat of a truck. He was then temporarily assigned to a Graves Registration unit. He had a foot locker full of pistols and holsters that he had taken off of the dead German soldiers that he had helped to pick up and haul to temporary cemeteries. There were Walther P-38's, PPK's, Mauser HSc's, Radoms and an assortment of revolvers. There were also two Lugers. I took quite a fancy to those guns and dad said that I could have them if I wanted. Lots of my friends had dads that were in the army during WWII and I wasn't the only one with a handgun. We used to play "army" all the time and many of us that couldn't afford a cap gun had a real handgun with the magazine removed. There were plenty of Army/Navy stores around, GI Joes being just one of them. I remember when it was in a huge tent that smelled like some kind of petroleum product. There were wooden barrels filled with British Lee Enfield .303 Jungle carbines at $10.00 each. They had never been fired. Lots of German KAR 98's too. $10.00 each.
When my friends and I turned out to play army, we were also dressed in the appropriate gear. We had helmets, cartridge belts, chevrons, packs, you name it, we had it.
But, back to my story about the Lugers. As time passed, my dad's buddies would find out that I liked Lugers and eventually I had over a dozen of them. They would give them to me and tell me the story about how they got them. One of them was a WWI artillery model with a great, long barrel and a wood stock that snapped into place on the handle. It wasn't a 9MM but rather a 7.65MM, if my fading memory is correct.
Dad belonged to the NRA and we would get the American Rifleman magazine every month. On the back page you could buy NRA "very good" 1911A1's for $20.00 or a nice .30 carbine for the same price. Dad bought a couple of each one and they all turned out to be new. The oddest gun that I saw advertised in quantity was a 20MM anti-aircraft gun complete with harness and half circles that you put your shoulders into. Shells were $1.00 and the gun alone was $100.00.
As time passed and I grew to be a teenager, my thoughts turned from guns and ammo to pursuit of the fairer sex. In order to enjoy the company of these delightful companions a vehicle of some kind was required. I was already working two jobs and going to school so I was going to need an additional source of capital to acquire a set of wheels that would set me apart from my fellows, who were also in pursuit of these lovelies. Ah Ha! My mind turned towards the chest of drawers in my room and the one drawer that contained an arsenal of WWII weaponry. I started selling off my Lugers, bayonets, Nazi armbands, belt buckles and SS cap badges. I got as much as $100.00 for my Lugers. The artillery model went for $200.00. Oh how clever I was! Dad said that I might want to reconsider selling all those guns, but what did he know? He had never seen the lovely girls that I was planning on taking to the drive in, in my car! Eventually I got a 1956 Chevy 2 door hardtop and then put a bored and stroked 283 cu.in engine in it topped off with two four barrels and coupled to a four speed transmission. I took the car to Mexico and had it upholstered in a metal flake Tuck N' Roll. The girls loved it and I was soon hated by many of the girl's fathers.
In retrospect, I should have kept the Lugers.
