[unterhund]

My friends, I appreciate your comments. I have recalled a couple more memories of my Dad and his Luger.

Although he was a professional soldier, my Dad was never a "gun nut." He was qualified on every small arm the Army issued during his service, and most likely a few more non-issue weapons. But he never had a particular interest in plinking, or hunting, or collecting. He kept that Luger secured from me, which was probably not a good idea. I remember being fascinated by that gun, and once, when I was alone in the house, I managed to find it. It's a gun owner's nightmare--your weapon in the hands of an unsupervised child. But I was in awe of it, and after handling it, I wrapped it up in that oily rag and put it back.

The next time I went looking for it, it was gone, hidden in some new place. My fingerprints had probably given me away. In retrospect, my Dad should have taken me to a range and let me shoot it. That might have reduced some of the "forbidden fruit" aspect, and taught me to respect its power.

The only time I can remember that Dad had it in his hand, ready to use it, was when our neighbor was burglarized in the middle of the night. The thief was gone, but my Dad had suddenly produced that pistol, and the look on his face told me he was willing and able to confront any intruder.

Near the end of his life, Dad took me out to the garage to show me some memorabilia from his service. At that time, he stunned me by revealing a secret he had kept for over thirty years. During his tour in Korea in the late fifties, and later in Germany in the early sixties, he had performed secret assignments which he had never described to anyone, not even my Mom. In Korea, he more than once went across the DMZ to confirm some small detail of a defector's information. He performed additional intelligence duties that he did not detail to me. In Germany, before our family joined him, before his assignment to a regular battalion, he went to Czechoslavakia in civilian clothes, to test Soviet border security. On these missions, he carried a hidden dagger, which I now have, and his Luger, which was "sterile."

Needless to say, these revelations stunned me. He showed me a little vague documentation of these activities, and how he carried his dagger and Luger concealed. I was too shocked to ask questions.

Now he's gone, and he carried a lot of secrets to his grave. He kept quiet because of modesty, and the burden of never telling my mother. How could he tell her these things thirty years later? He had also been sworn to secrecy by his government, and was not going to violate that trust. He only told me a little of it, because I was his only son, and his days were numbered. I'm sure he was not the only old soldier that kept some terrible truths from his loved ones.

This is the first time I have shared these memories, all brought on by contemplating my father's Luger. I thank this forum once again for allowing me to recall a special man and a special gun.