Desertrat Posted October 30, 2015 #1 Posted October 30, 2015 named blade, can't for the life of me remember who the maker was but I do remember he was in the 3rd tier of Swordsmiths
Allan H. Posted October 30, 2015 #2 Posted October 30, 2015 Your great uncle was a Japanese officer?!?!?! That is an awesome blade. Can you give us some detailed photos of the handle and the edge of the blade? Allan
james127 Posted October 30, 2015 #3 Posted October 30, 2015 Very cool! I'm really hoping to add a Japanese sword to my collection someday. Do you know anything about the details of your uncle's service?
Ronny67 Posted October 30, 2015 #4 Posted October 30, 2015 Great for you, but please do not lay it in Gravel!
Desertrat Posted October 30, 2015 Author #6 Posted October 30, 2015 Ronny, It's not in gravel, it only looks like it. The pic was taken on my patio, James, my Great Uncle, Earl Koontz, was Navy. He left the service as a PO2 mailman. From the family stories, he made it as high as CPO but got busted for drinking and fighting. Other than that, I don't know too much.
Allan H. Posted October 30, 2015 #8 Posted October 30, 2015 The sword is a standard Japanese army sword. The file marks on the tang lead me to believe that this is a Showa (WWII era) blade rather than one made by an old master sword smith. It is still a very nice example. I knew a WWII vet who brought home a very nice Samurai sword after the war. When talking to him about it, he said that there were large piles of Japanese weapons that were under US guard after the war. Naval officers were allowed to go to the piles and choose a souvenir. Some chose Nambu pistols, or sometimes a rifle, but the ultimate souvenir was a Samurai sword, so those were the most commonly chosen pieces. He said that the piles were divided up by souvenir appeal, with the best swords being in one pile, better swords being in another pile, NCO swords being in a third pile, bayonets in another pile, etc. etc. Since the vet I knew was a LT CDR in WWII, he got to choose from the "best" pile, but only after more senior officers had gone through and chosen their souvenirs. After him, the LT's. LT (JG)'s and the Ensigns got a turn. Next came the chiefs, then the PO's etc. This always made a lot of sense to me from a collector standpoint because I encountered a lot of sailors who came home with Type 99 rifles or bayonets. It always seemed like it was the officers that came home with the swords. I'll bet your uncle got the sword before being busted down. You're lucky you're not showing us a photo of a bayonet! Allan
USCapturephotos Posted October 30, 2015 #9 Posted October 30, 2015 Love this thread and that story Allan shared about the souvenirs. Makes a lot of sense. Paul
gomorgan Posted October 30, 2015 #10 Posted October 30, 2015 One of my uncles was a Master at Arms on ship at end of war and stated he escorted a barge of swords, pistols/rifles and bayonets to his ship. Items were given by rank with senior officers getting swords and whatever else they wanted, enough rifles were brought along side for every enlisted man to have one, those not taken were then thrown over board into bay.
sundance Posted October 31, 2015 #11 Posted October 31, 2015 Ohhhh, those things at the bottom of the sea. Beautiful sword - but then again I think they're all beautiful.
SFMike Posted November 5, 2015 #12 Posted November 5, 2015 All those stories have variations. I have a sword and a T14 picked up byan ordinary seaman from a pile at Hiroshima. Military life is always-"different day, different stuff."
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