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Captured Luger With Veteran Interview


Cpl. Punishment
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Cpl. Punishment

Hello!

A couple months ago, I spotted my dream pistol. A nice wartime luger, with capture papers and a matching magazine and holster. The holster is Bulgarian, but has the vets name on it and the son verified its what his dad always had it in.

Anyways, I bought the pistol, and the dealer also gave me a seperste capture paper for a set of binoculars the man brought home. I reached out to the family, and they were extremely friendly! The son confirmed all of the items, and told me he sold it at the estate a few years ago. His dad was a forward observer in the 346th field artillery in Itsly with the 91st. He spent most of his time on the lines with the 362nd infantry (A and B companies I believe) calling in fire.

The son asked for my address and A few days later, I received a package containing multiple original photos of his dad, collar brass, a post war DI he wore for events, and his original wartime dogtag!!!

The son also sent me a digital file of 55 photos, 12 wartime audio tapes of his dad including one interview of his dad while he was in Italy. I will forward this particular interview for you to listen to! He also sent a digital copy of his discharge, newspaper clippings letters written shortly after VE day where he detailed exactly where he was and when, and an unpublished 346th unit history!

One of the letters could be a thread in itself, as the envelope also contains a German ration card for troops in occupied France. The letter talks about taking the ration card from a POW shortly after he arrived overseas!

The vet was wounded in march 1945, and the family got rid of all of his military items and gave me what they had left after donating most if it to a historical society in his home town.

He also brought back an HSc that had been messed with but it sold before I could get it. It was not worth much as someone ground off a piece in the mag well.

Anyways, please enoy!

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Cpl. Punishment

Here is a wartime interview of the veteran. I also have roughly 10 other recordings of the vet, all of which were recorded stateside during training. This group is unbelievable, but I wanted to share a small sample with you all.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/md1wz90dpnolmen/03%20Dave%20Hathaway%20in%20Italy%20-%20April%2018%2C%201945%20%28with%20intro%29.mp3?dl=0

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Cpl. Punishment

Thank you! This is one of my favorite groups, but certainly took a lot of legwork to pull together!

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Cpl. Punishment

Here are some of the smalls the son sent me. Interestingly enough, a portrait of this man shortly before shipping to Italy seems to show him wearing infantry discs evem though he was already assigned to the 346th artillery. Maybe he did this since he spent most time with the infantry?

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Cpl. Punishment

I am fortunate to have been given this original photo of David as well! It was amazing to see this photo recreated!

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  • 1 month later...
Cpl. Punishment

Just wanted to update you all! The son scanned 100 wartime letters written by this gentleman! I was also able to snag a unit history written by the battery C commander which I have never seen another copy of!

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