Found this forum that led me to his blog. That lead me the story about a WWII vet being reintroduced... Needless to say I joined the forum and will probably start to follow the blog, which will be the first time I've ever paid any attention to a blog! My rep to this gentleman for being involved with the firearm community and respecting a vet!
Story follows.
A few years back, My brother and I took some of our coworkers from our respective jobs shooting. Most of them had never gone shooting before, and all of them had never shot rifles. We planned on shooting some rifles and then spending most of our time on the trap range. If there was any interest, we would also shoot some at a plinking area.
Because some of our group had new AR-15s, we went to the known distance rifle range first to assist in sighting them in. While my brother worked on the first rifle I decided to entertain the rest of the group with my M1. I brought it out and started a short demonstration; I talked about the history of my rifle, the operation and function, etc. I then demonstrated how to load and fire the rifle. After the first enbloc was fired, an older gentleman came over and struck up a conversation with my brother while I coached the first shooter.
When I heard my brother ask "which branch did you serve in?", I picked the rifle up and brought it over. The man said he served in the Army and was deployed to the pacific during World War Two. I handed him my rifle and he immediately kissed it on the lower hand guard. He said that his rifle had saved his life. He told us how his rifle would shoot in the dirt and the rain, how he had qualified Expert the day he turned 18. I asked him if he'd like to shoot the rifle, and he said no. I told him that we would be honored, but he still declined. I started coaching more shooters while he watched on. After a while I asked him again, please shoot my rifle. He finally accepted. I helped him load the M1 and stepped back. He took his time, and after the enbloc clip was ejected he stood up and exclaimed "Outstanding!". He told me it didn't kick like remembered, but he hadn't fired an M1 in 50 years. I could see the tears in his eyes.
The man's son came over to see what his father was up to. I showed him my M1, and he noticed the CMP sticker on the butt stock and asked if that was how I came by it. I told him yes, and that he should get one as soon as possible. He asked me what the requirements were, and I told him, and he said he didn't belong to any clubs. I told him that the Garand Collectors Association (GCA) was on the internet, accepting members, and a CMP affiliated club.
After we all thanked his father for his service and for coming by, they thanked us and the son walked his father back to their bench. What a blessing.

Posted by mr.smashy at 5:48 PM 0 comments Links to this post

http://thesmashyblog.blogspot.com/20...with-hero.html