That's a great story! You Dad and your uncle were involved in the Trinity test!

My story is less dramatic. I was seven and my brother was 12 that summer of '45 and in west Michigan. My father was a farmer and, among other things, he grew strawberries. Summer was berry picking. My Mother had a cousin, Joy, who would have been 15 or 16 then. A pretty, shy, blond girl; not at all conceited or worldly. She came out to stay at the farm to help with the strawberry harvest. There was a young soldier (I believe he was a relative of Joy's brother-in-law) who was very taken with Joy. He was on leave and came out to the farm just to be near Joy. Soldiers on leave were required to wear the uniform but, in the summer heat, he wore as little of it as he thought he could get away with. He helped with the farm work, picked berries, and did everything he could to make himself useful. What I remember especially is that he slept nights in the yard under a big maple tree. Of course, he was my hero, as were all servicemen when I was seven: They still are! I wish I could remember his name. I heard much later that he didn't make it through the war. Interesting, isn't it, when you compare the early 1940's, with the real threats and real dangers, to the "crisis" we have now.

You have your Father's A3 and you mentioned you also have your uncle's A3. In looking through some old American Rifleman magazines, I came across the purchase request form for "1903A3 Springfield Rifles" at $10 plus $4.50 packing and handling in the September, 1960 issue. In an issue a few months later, there was a note that 30,000 of the 53,000 requests had been processed. Among those 53,000 requests was mine and I think it's a safe bet that your Dad's and your uncles requests were in there, too.

Merry Christmas!