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
.
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
.
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