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Put a smile on a vet's face...and on a pie plate


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Today, I went shooting with the mayor of a city I worked at for over 30 years. He is an Army veteran of Vietnam. We brought Mr. M1A1 out to shoot. He did quite well, keeping rounds on target while hip shooting (he's well into his 70's and his shoulders weren't working well today). Was able to catch a few rounds of brass in the air. Another shooting buddy printed a smile (albeit Picasso-esque) on a cardboard pie plate with a couple short auto bursts.

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I'm 57. Will be 58 next month. Some close calls with pulmonary embolisms, motorcycle mishaps, some unexpected ICU stays and deaths of friends and family over the last five years have given me a new outlook on life. I don't want to die with unfired guns and a conex full of ammo. I try to go out once a month (if not more often) with my closest friends and bust the cherry on a couple guns. My sons will inherit a bunch of guns and ammo, but Imma gonna try and spend some of that inheritance now. My dad , a China Marine, died 11 years ago yesterday at the age of 80. A few months before he died, we went to the exact same range with my M1 Garand and M1 Carbine. He loved the Garand and the 1919A4 and (when he was 17), but just opted to shoot the Carbine. Can't say as I blame him. I wish I had taken photos. Side note, this last Friday night, I was at a friend's 10 year wedding vow renewal. The man officiating the ceremony was the sheriff of my county (later to become State Attorney) when he signed off on my first (and only) Form 1 to make a machine gun in 1986 (damn FOPA). I would see him over the years and when talking about machine guns, he told me he carried a Thompson in Vietnam as a "military intelligence" officer. He said he carried the Thompson for one mission and traded it for a lighter, more compact Swedish K. We ended up drinking a half a bottle of 1835 Texas Bourbon and catching up on things. Like is short. Like the greatest singer/ songwriter of our generation, Warren Zevon said, "Enjoy every sandwich." I can't get mail order whiskey from Texas anymore, but my favorite whisky place in Dublin ships it here. Shipping is almost as much as the whisky!

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Edited by Waffen Und Bier
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That is excellent. Taking any vet out to a range, is good for them as well as you. I remember handing my M1 Thompson to Lynn "Buck" Compton at a show. Watching his face light up as he held it and looked at it was priceless. One of the other BoB men said, "Hey Buck. You did a lot of damage with a Thompson." He looked at them and said, "I sure did." And smiled from ear to ear.
My grandfather, 85th ID, Custer Division WWII, loved the M1 Garand. When I bought my M1 Thompson, he said "I didn't like that damned heavy thing. So heavy and bulky." He couldn't believe the M1 Garand and the Thompson were the same weight, until I put each on the scale. He still said, "I didn't like them Tommy guns. I liked to shoot them Germans from far away. And I shot a shit load of 'em." He was a hell of a shot even into his late seventies and early 80's.

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