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[2571]

A serious collector of WWII memorabilia recently told me hew has heard the stories change as the age of those vets got older. In the late 40's & early 50's, guys would brag about how they acquired a trophy in explicit, gory detail. As guys got older, the bring-backs all seem to have been acquired laying in a field or won in card game.

Can't say I can blame a guy -- who wants to remember unpleasant stuff like that in your old age.

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[kcw]

My recently deceased neighbor was one of the first Americans to set foot into Japan at the end of the war. He was with the Navy and his ship was among the first to anchor in Tokyo habor. Their first duty was to escort Army troops and set up security (ie. see that the planes at nearby airfields were disabled etc.)
One of the things they did was to secure a Jap arsenal. When they first entered the arsenal they found women working feverishly at bench grinders where they were grinding the mum off of new rifles. There were other women bringing crates of rifles to the grinding area. Kids were dragging the altered rifles and empty crates outside the building and dumping them off the loading dock.
Recognizing a chance to make a buck, my neighbor and his fellows "expropriated" a large number of crated rifles and trucked them down to the harbor. There they loaded those little navy "runabouts" with rifle crates to the point that they nearly sank. they then proceeded to go from ship to ship selling rifles. Crates were dumped overboard as they were emptied. I believe that $40 was the going price per rifle. It was a sellers' market.
He did recall that the Japs put up a small fuss about taking the crated rifles.
He didn't know how many rifles were sold but recalled that the harbor was awash in floating rifle crates. After about a week of selling they were ordered to stop. It's my understanding that orders were soon issued stating that the "mum" on any captured "prize of war" in the hands of troops was to be defaced. Commanding officers were suppose to see that this was done but apparently the order was all but ignored.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

A serious collector of WWII memorabilia recently told me hew has heard the stories change as the age of those vets got older. In the late 40's & early 50's, guys would brag about how they acquired a trophy in explicit, gory detail. As guys got older, the bring-backs all seem to have been acquired laying in a field or won in card game.

Can't say I can blame a guy -- who wants to remember unpleasant stuff like that in your old age.

Real vet story.
I met a WW2 vet while delivering prescriptions while in college. We would visit a bit each time I delivered. WW2 came up and he asked if I would stay a few min. and he would show me somthing. He got the key to his stor room and inside opened a locker.
He pulled out a rifle a Nambu ,map and sword and told me the story of how he came by the items as a Pathfinder in the pacific. If I any doubts about the story they wer dispelled when he lifted his pant leg and showed me the scar left by the sword. Having gotten to know this gentelman over several years I have no doubts his story was true. He had no children and I often wonder if he shared the story with whoever he passed the items to. Nice fellow. I miss him.