A couple of stories posted over at the CMP forum set my mind wondering and wandering this morning. There's this one about a son recovering his dad's M1, and another one about a vet getting very teary-eyed over finding another one.
I served in the Army for just under 3 years in the late 80s. Over that time, I was assigned at least 3 different M-16s (2 in Basic/AIT, and the 3d at my duty station), then an M-16/M-203 combo. I was also responsible for an M-60 and an M2, and occasionally carried a pistol, though never the same one twice, as I recall. I was an MP in a HAWK unit and had RSOP (recon) duties, hence the variety of weaponry.
I couldn't tell you anything about any of those weapons now. Don't recall a single serial number or rack number. I never actually fired the M2. I just had to lug it around when the RSOP section rolled out. I don't recall that I ever saw timing and headspace gauges for it, although I'm sort of sure the battery had at least one set.
Now granted, I served in peacetime, though it was the Cold War, and I was in the eastern part of West Germany. We knew we'd basically be a speed bump if anything ever happened. But I never had any emotional attachment to any of the weapons I carried. Is it because I served during peacetime?
The vets who remember their SNs and such, and have such emotional reactions to their rediscovery and such: is it because they faced the elephant with that rifle? Is it the M1?
Vets from recent conflicts: do you have a similar attachment to your M-16, or M4?
The armor guys, and pilots and aircrews, I can understand. That piece of machinery is your home for hours on end, and your fellow crewmen are your family. Do arty crews have a similar attachment?
What is it about the personal weapon that causes some of us to form such attachments?
(Cross-posted. Perplexed and others only have to reply once. )
I served in the Army for just under 3 years in the late 80s. Over that time, I was assigned at least 3 different M-16s (2 in Basic/AIT, and the 3d at my duty station), then an M-16/M-203 combo. I was also responsible for an M-60 and an M2, and occasionally carried a pistol, though never the same one twice, as I recall. I was an MP in a HAWK unit and had RSOP (recon) duties, hence the variety of weaponry.
I couldn't tell you anything about any of those weapons now. Don't recall a single serial number or rack number. I never actually fired the M2. I just had to lug it around when the RSOP section rolled out. I don't recall that I ever saw timing and headspace gauges for it, although I'm sort of sure the battery had at least one set.
Now granted, I served in peacetime, though it was the Cold War, and I was in the eastern part of West Germany. We knew we'd basically be a speed bump if anything ever happened. But I never had any emotional attachment to any of the weapons I carried. Is it because I served during peacetime?
The vets who remember their SNs and such, and have such emotional reactions to their rediscovery and such: is it because they faced the elephant with that rifle? Is it the M1?
Vets from recent conflicts: do you have a similar attachment to your M-16, or M4?
The armor guys, and pilots and aircrews, I can understand. That piece of machinery is your home for hours on end, and your fellow crewmen are your family. Do arty crews have a similar attachment?
What is it about the personal weapon that causes some of us to form such attachments?
(Cross-posted. Perplexed and others only have to reply once. )