Uncle Homer's knife and rifle.

[Owd Wullie]

First off, I never knew Uncle Homer. I knew his brother Freddy. Freddy was like another dad to me. I even called him UNCLE Freddy just to give him a rash. He enjoyed it. Freddy flew B-17's and spent two years in Germany as a guest of the Reich. Homer was a SeaBee. Homer went through the Pacific "island hopping" campaign. He was a USN Radioman 2nd Class.

When Homer got out of the Navy at the end of the war, he forgot to turn in his rifle.

After WII surplus planes were plentiful. Freddy bought 2 Stearman trainers and two BT-13 trainers. The BT-13's were unflyable but all he wanted was the engines and brakes off of them to put on the Stearmans. The Stearman had a 220hp Continental engine and the BT13 had a 450hp Pratt and Whitney and a LOT bigger and better brakes and wheels. A 450-HP Stearman is only marginally faster than a stock one but it will lift a LOT bigger load. Freddy and Homer were now in the crop dusting business. Homer was ground support and Freddy and another guy did the flying. In 1952, Freddy rigged the planes to spray rather than dust. This was cutting edge back then and he wanted a picture of a plane in action. Homer grabbed the camera and said he'd do the photog work. Freddy was making a pass over a cotton field with his wheels clipping the tops of the plants. Apparently Homer waited just a bit too long to snap the picture and the left main mount took his head off. Freddy found out what had happened several hours later when Homer didn't show back up.

I got my pilot's license in '93. Freddy was a lot of help and we burned a lot of avgas without ever leaving the hangar. Freddy was "Pappy" Spinks right hand man when Pappy was building skids for Bell Huey's during the Nam years.

Pappy was Hell of guy and I'm proud to have know his crusty old arse too but that is another story.

Freddy come down with liver cancer in late '97. We buried him in early in '98. He went fast which was a blessing. He told his lovely wife, Mary, before he died, to ask me if I would sell off his gun collection. She did and I did. Freddy didn't have any idea how much his guns were worth. Mary told me to take all the time I needed or sell 'em off in a hurry, she didn't care. I took my time and got top dollar on most everything he had. Mary nearly fainted when I put the cash on her table about three months later. She expected to see three or four hundred dollars and I laid out a bit shy of 10 grand. When Freddy was released from the Stalag, they were allowed to collect guns that had been confiscated from the Germans. He got some NICE stuff.

When that deal was done I was drinking one of her beers and she said that there was another gun behind the door that Freddy wanted me to have. I picked it up and it was this M1 Garand that Homer had carried and borrowed. It is 100% as issued in 1942. Mary also gave me Homer's Pal Fighting knife. It was my turn to get all weepy eyed. I told her I could get a pretty good chunk of change for that rifle if she wanted me to sell it too. She told me in NO uncertain terms that Freddy wanted me to have that rifle and I could do with it as I pleased. He hated it. He had told me years past that Garand was the ugliest POS rifle the US ever issued.

Either way, it's a keeper.





That baby is hair poppin sharp! At some point in time, it cut a hole in the sheath. I keep it oiled and look at every now and then.

As for the Garand?




Pretty wood on that "ugliest POS rifle that the US ever issued".

Freddy was a Hoot and I miss him.

Oh, the lil teensy Red knife? My wife works for a floral design ( high zoot flower shop) firm. They buy those things by the box and then the girls proceed to cut everything on the planet from rocks to wire. I gather up a handful about twice a month and straighten out the edges for 'em and then get griped at when one of 'em cuts them self.. They're easy to sharpen, soft as butter, and only beveled on one side.

[jonet143]

cool.

[philco]

I love a good story, and I just read one.

Thanks for sharing.

Phil

[mr.fred]

When i was in Marine Bootcamp in 1967 we used the Garand a few times---at night the Fire out of barrel would scare the CRAP out of me---it's and Awsume rifle----and a very interesting story----------------------------Mr.Fred

[orvet]

Great story Wullie & well told.

Dale

[RobesonsRme.com]

Wullie;
That's a great story. History is everything. Make sure that Homer and Freddie are never forgotten.

I did Army Basic with an M-1 Garand. Great rifle. Then Infantry AIT, we had M-14's, another good rifle. I know, some did not like it, but I did.

I never fired an M-16 until just before I went to Viet Nam, and I qualified with it at Ft. Lewis, Washington, just days before flying out.

When I got to my A-Camp, there was an M-1 rigged out as a sniper rifle, with scope, slicked up trigger pull, etc.

Back to basics.

Charlie Noyes

[Owd Wullie]

Thanks Charlie,

I actually carried one of the damn things in Navy boot camp. 9.5 lbs gets awful heavy when it's carried at high port arms at a run for a couple of miles. Also used one to shoot at sharks when they did a swim call out in the Tonkin Gulf. I wasn't about to swim next to a carrier that had the toilets dumping overboard.. I volunteered for shark watch and when they found out I could shoot, I got the job.

I had some fun with 16's after Nam and bunch more full auto stuff from all over the world when a pard and I thought we'd get rich down south. We thought wrong. I sure liked that FN-FAL a lot more than the M-14.

That old gun will still "tie every bundle". A good friend told me to get a new operating rod. He said since that gun is 100% 1942, it would be a shame if the original rod broke. I'm shopping around, but I only shoot that thing every five years or so and then only 4 or 5 clips.

With the way things are going, I'm keepin' my powder dry and out of sight.

[RobesonsRme.com]

There's nothing like the sound of that empty M-1 clip ejecting from the magazine. I suppose it could have been the worst sound some GI's ever heard.

I thought they did a good job of capturing that, "TWINNNG" in Saving Private Ryan.

Charlie Noyes

[Owd Wullie]

That was a good flick. Hard for me to watch. Eyes get all watery.

I think I posted a pic of the clip just about to land on my boy's head. It was the first time he'd shot that thing and the look on his face was priceless when she went "TWING" and it bounced off his noggin..

I've never had one land on my head. I guess since he is lighter than I am the recoil moved 'em both around for that kodak moment.

I'll say this for him, on his very first shot, he hit the ground.................. He flinched pretty bad and dug a rut about 30 yards out.. After he figured out it wasn't going to kill him, he settled down and did pretty good.

I wish I still had my old 1903. THAT is a rifleman's rifle.
He had her set for about 7-8 hundred yards in that pic. With that sight laid down flat she was battle sighted at 550 yards!

I used to bust rocks ( refrigerator sized ) at a click my old 1919 rifle. Somebody wanted it worse than I did and caught me at weak moment. They paid dearly.

I've let a LOT of good stuff get away over the years

[George21]

Awesome stories. Always love a bit of history!

I'm sure I won't be the only one asking for more!