1911 finally returned to it's rightful owner,,,

A

aarondhgraham

New member
Back in 1967 I turned 16,,,
My father gave me a nickel plated 1911,,,
It had belonged to his brother who carried it in WW-II and Korea.

He died while on active duty in 1954 or 1955

Don't ask me why his duty weapon was nickel plated because we never knew,,,
The story I was told is he was killed while guarding a warehouse,,,
His partner hid the gun and mailed it to the family.

By the time I got possession of the pistol,,,
It had been owned by several of the family members,,,
None of them took good care of it so the nickel was peeling badly.

I have probably fired 1,000 to 1,500 rounds while I had the gun,,,
It worked just fine but was cosmetically very ragged,,,
In 1995 I was of a mind to restore it's beauty,,,
I had the gun bead-blasted to bare metal,,,
Then I ran out of money.

So up until now it has been completely disassembled,,,
The parts have been swimming in oil in baggies,,,
I simply never had the spare cash to restore it.

Two years ago my Pop got an E-mail from a lady,,,
She had been running genealogical searches,,,
She found his driftwood website.

She wanted to know if he had a Brother named Acey.

It turns out she is my Pops niece,,,
He said he never knew his Brother was married.
I didn't know about this myself until just very recently.

Several months ago I contacted her and introduced myself as a cousin by marriage,,,
I said "I have your fathers pistol. Would you like it returned to you"?

She was astonished and happily said yes.

She and her husband are visiting other family members,,,
We arranged to meet at a local restaurant.

Even though the gun is still in pieces awaiting restoration,,,
The emotions across the table from her and her cousins was intense.

It has taken 58 years to do it,,,
But her fathers pistol has found it's way home.

Aarond

.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow Aaron you are really a great guy. I would be forever grateful if I were the family member. I commend you.

My uncle has my grandfather's WWII Radom pistol. We aren't on speaking terms, but I hope he sells it to me someday because it should stay in the family. My grandfather supposedly crawled inside of a Panzer or maybe Tiger tank that was hit by a bomb and the gun was on the hip of a German on the inside of the tank. Many people are very sentimental and even if they're not, they should be able to make the choice, not have someone decide for them (meaning sell it to a 3rd party).

Also, the nickel peeled because it was probably plated by an amateur. No GI issue 1911s were nickeled. It was a common post war modification for WWII related handguns.
 
Last edited:
Hello Fireman and Winchester,,,

That is truly awesome, can't begin to imagine her feelings towards that pistol.
Click to expand...

In all honesty I wasn't sure whether she would want it or not,,,
She had been living in San Diego, California since the very late 50's,,,
As far as I knew she could have been one of the bunny-hugging firearms are bad types.

But it turned out both she and her husband are gun owners,,,
Not big hunters or anything but they are NRA members.

In fact they had recently moved to Arizona,,,
To escape California's political climate once and for all.

Wow Aaron you are really a great guy.
Click to expand...

That might be the first time in my life,,,
That someone has described me in that manner. ;)

I probably don't deserve that honorific,,,
But I gladly accept it in the spirit it was given.

Let's just say that at least once in my life,,,
I was very happy to do the right thing. :)

Her mother is still alive and told her that she remembered the pistol,,,
She herself remembers her fathers "shiny gun",,,
He was a Captain and a decorated pilot,,,
Perhaps he had a ceremonial function.

But they both remember him carrying a shiny pistol while on duty.

I wasn't Army,,,
But I saw USAF AP's carrying plated revolvers every now and then.

Who knows why or how,,,
It's finally home.

.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the compliments gentlemen,,,

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen,,,
I really wasn't fishing for them. :rolleyes:

I just wanted to try and relate the emotion of the moment.

I got to have a happy reunion with a cousin I haven't seen in 45+ years,,,
And got to meet another cousin I didn't even know existed.

"Lifetime Movie" moments occasionally do happen in real life. :)

Aarond

.
 
Did your cousin tell you what she was going to do with the 1911? Is she going to have it refinished, if so, how? When you gave it to her was it still in pieces? Just curious.
 
That was a nice thing you did Aaron . . . I'm sure it will be treasured by them. Just remember . . . Karma is a wonderful thing . . . what goes around, comes around . . . not that you'll have someone show up on your doorstep with a 1911 that belonged to somebody close to you . . . but you will get your reward in other ways I'm sure. Great story . . thanks for sharing!
 
Hello Seven High,,,

Hello Seven High:

Is she going to have it refinished, if so, how? When you gave it to her was it still in pieces? Just curious.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was still in pieces,,,
All bagged up and swimming in oil.

Both she and her husband said they were going to spend whatever it takes to get it restored,,,
She does have a child to pass it down to who will appreciate the heirloom,,,
She'll probably have it cased along with his Purple Hearts.

Hello berettaprofessor:

Your father didn't know his brother had a child?
Click to expand...

My father didn't know he had a wife.

There was never any friction between any of the five brothers,,,
They just all went their separate ways as they grew up,,,
It was common to go several years with no contact,,,
They weren't a Norman Rockwell family. ;)

Aarond

.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top