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M1911A1 smuggled home from Vietnam

7K views 40 replies 30 participants last post by  KLW1911 
#1 ·
I wonder how many M1911A1 45s were brought home in duffel bags?
Some grunts got caught and some weren't.
Tell me your story and I'll tell you mine! After all, the statute of limitations has long passed.
Perhaps your story could be about how and/or what your "friend" did to get his M1911A1 home.
It was 1966 when my "friend" simply went thru the US Customs line where only about 1/3rd of the duffel bags seemed to be actually searched. My "friend" was asked what was in his bag and he responded, "Mainly underwear and socks - - lots of socks."
My "friend" was looked in the eye, didn't blink, and was allowed to go thru.
I gather that changed dramatically after 1968.
 
#35 ·
In my business I have dealt with WWII, Korean and RVN vets. I’ve met many over the years who had their Garands or 1911s from the service. Even bought a Garand from a man who fought in the Pacific and on Iwo. It was his personal gun. No idea how they got them back as that never came up nor did it seem to matter to me. I was young and that aspect really didn’t matter. I traded the Garand at a gun show many years ago for an Hk91 which I no longer have either.
 
#37 ·
My dad, two of my F-I-Ls and my Uncles were all WWII Veterans and they had various great stories.

I remember one Uncle bragging about his 1911 and Uncle Joe corrected him. "You bought that 45 in South Gate (California) after the riot (Watts 1965).

Buy the gun and not the story. (But the stories are entertaining)
 
#39 ·
Not long after I first joined this forum we had a guy proudly show off his dad's Remington Rand that he carried ashore on June 6th, 1944 during D-Day. Only problem was the serial number dated it to October/November 1944 time frame. The poor guy got really mad at everyone when we tried to point that out to him. A lot of old vets are like your uncle who often got a bit confused about when they actually acquired their sidearm. Often the old Colt they bought in 1955 at a pawn shop becomes the actual one they carried at Anzio over time.
 
#38 ·
When I was a kid my grandpa had a place in the N. Ga.mountains 69 acres with a 17 acre lake that he and my dad and uncles and friends used for hunting and fishing.The house had been there in the cival war. I can remember a gun that allways hung on the wall with others,except it had a thick wooden stock and was full auto w/ banana clip (MP 40 I think) story was my uncle had shipped it back from Korea where he had been an MP.He let me shoot it once,been a gun nut ever since.
 
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