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Curious question about "War Trophies"


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Curious, hence the question.  Two questions, actually:

 

1) In my lifetime I've known people with all manners of "war trophies."  These included rifles, pistols, swords, knives, bayonets, and other less lethal items they brought home from conflicts in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.  So in today's world - are members of our armed forces still allowed to bring home such "souvenirs?"   :huh:

 

2) Any special special or noteworthy such items that you or someone you've known brought home?   :) 

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32 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

Curious, hence the question.  Two questions, actually:

 

1) In my lifetime I've known people with all manners of "war trophies."  These included rifles, pistols, swords, knives, bayonets, and other less lethal items they brought home from conflicts in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.  So in today's world - are members of our armed forces still allowed to bring home such "souvenirs?"   :huh:

 

2) Any special special or noteworthy such items that you or someone you've known brought home?   :) 

I brought back an SKS carbine...the one that I was shot with.  The sniper, a woman, was killed.

 

I gave it to the man who recruited me into the Marine Corps

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I believe that the regulations regarding bring backs are much more stringent. As I understand it dang near everything is prohibited. In my day you could bring back pretty much anything but full auto weapons, ammo, and explosive devices.

I brought back an SKS, a canteen and some miscellaneous field gear. I had a North Vietnamese pith helmet but I wouldn’t fit in my bag so 
I left it.

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I was part of the ground invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Bringing guns home is prohibited by the Gun Control Act of 1968.  However, I have two war trophies:

 

1- A metal sign of Saddam Hussein.  He had these all over Tikrit, his home town.  

 

2- An Iraqi AK-47 bayonet.  This one, being a bladed weapon, required paperwork to get home, so I have a Department of the Army form signed by my then-Commander stating it is an "authorized war trophy."  

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I’m not sure the GCA prohibits it. It was common practice during the Vietnam war through ‘72.

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GCA68 outlaws the importation of military firearms (FOPA86 repealed that part of GCA).

 

Not sure how that would apply to "war trophies", though. Might just be "commercial importation".

 

 

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I've got two Lugers brought back as war trophies - one by an old family friend, long passed on now, and another by an uncle who passed in 2007 at the age of 95. Uncle John also brought back the original holster with the Luger, a Mauser 1910 .25 acp pocket pistol, missing its firing pin for some reason, and a nickeled Iver Johnson Safety Hammerless .32 S&W. Various other items included bayonets, patches, Nazi arm band, Nazi belt buckle, Iron Cross, silk escape/survival maps, coins, etc.

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I also have a Luger that was probably a war trophy, as it's all matching with no import marks. I bought it from a shop that bought this and a second Luger from an old vet. I really wish I could find out its history but unfortunately these things can't talk.

 

BTW Forty Rod, I may have had my share of problems with Asian women in the past but none ever tried to shoot me! :wacko:

.

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I tried to look up the regulations.  Basically it looks like any working firearm or mechanical knife is prohibited from being brought back as a war trophy.  With shoulder arms now being overwhelmingly fully automatic bringing them back is pretty much out of the question anyway.

 

 

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The late TSgt James McDermott (Half-Breed Pete's dad) came home from Italy and later assignments with a Luger and a Radom, both of which he'd liberated from German officers.  He also brought home several Mauser rifles, stripped of their stocks.  He was quite a skilled stock maker and gunsmith, and these later became fine hunting rifles.

 

Oh... and an Iron Cross.  The story was his company was taking heavy artillery fire.  Sgt Mac had located a German spotter on a hill, and crawled from his foxhole, worked his way to a vantage point and dispatched him with a single shot from some 200+ yards.  The barrage petered out, the company advanced on a bunker and it's occupants surrendered.  Inside was the body of an officer - the spotter, dead but with a futile bandage about his head. Sgt Mac then told us of how a German NCO removed this Iron Cross from the dead officer's tunic and gave it to Sgt Mac.  

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1 hour ago, punxsutawneypete said:

I tried to look up the regulations.  Basically it looks like any working firearm or mechanical knife is prohibited from being brought back as a war trophy.  With shoulder arms now being overwhelmingly fully automatic bringing them back is pretty much out of the question anyway.

 

 

I have heard from friends that it’s not unusual to find Enfields, Mausers, and even Garands in Afghanistan. And apparently there are a lot of German rifles in Syria.

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When I was in 10th grade, Mr. Barnes, my chemistry teacher, brought in a box of war trophies on Veteran’s Day. Turns out he was an tank battalion commander in WW2 in Europe. In his box were German helmets, a Luger, daggers, an MP40, and assorted other items. He dedicated the whole period to a discussion of war, service, and sacrifice. He was a fine southern Virginia gentleman.

Imagine if he tried that today?

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I witnessed an employee of Lady Bird's PA&E send US made war trophies home in 1970.  The guy was the  fire chief for a base camp in 3 Corps.  He sent home a pair of portable battery operated sided band HF tranceivers & a M16.  These were the only portable side band radios I ever saw.  There were for long range patrols where the AN/PRC24 wouldn't work.

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In the early days a number of AK47s were sent home. Not smuggled. In plane sight. Mounted to a nice woof mount with an engraved plaque that said something like, To Lt. Colonel Reginald McWarfase in gratitude for your courageous and inspiring leadership. From the officers and men of 3rd Battalion 209th Regiment 23rd Infantry Division. 
The muzzle and chamber were welded in accordance with current regs....except they weren’t. A little putti painted silver simulated the welds. Took a while for the MPs to catch on. Hard to tell how many came back into the US like that. 
More came back in pieces mixed in crates of vehicle and aircraft parts.

I believe I already related the unsuccessful attempt I made to register and bring back an RPG7. Would have made an awesome table lamp. :( ;)


 

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2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

When I was in 10th grade, Mr. Barnes, my chemistry teacher, brought in a box of war trophies on Veteran’s Day

When I was in 6th grade we did a play. Something about pirates.

 

Kids brought in their Daddies' war trophies as props. There were at least three samurai swords, two Lugers, and I believe (looking back over 50 years) a Nambu.

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Needles to say the issue in Australia is you cant own a lot of the things you would want to bring back.

 

The way some of the guys have got around it is they donate it to the War Memorial or a recognised Defence Museum.

 

Hence there is a gold AK 104 from Iraq in the War Memorial (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL36105.001) and a Type 69 Iraq tank in the RAAC Museum, yep we souvenired a whole tank.

 

Thats why we are known as hydrolics, we will lift (steal) anything.

 

pic1.jxr

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53 minutes ago, Major Crimes said:

Needles to say the issue in Australia is you cant own a lot of the things you would want to bring back.

 

The way some of the guys have got around it is they donate it to the War Memorial or a recognised Defence Museum.

 

Hence there is a gold AK 104 from Iraq in the War Memorial (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL36105.001) and a Type 69 Iraq tank in the RAAC Museum, yep we souvenired a whole tank.

 

Thats why we are known as hydrolics, we will lift (steal) anything.

 

pic1.jxr 41.16 kB · 1 download

Can’t get your pic to open.

 

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The General is Major General John Cantwell.

He served in the 7th Armoured Brigade (Brit) as a plans offr during Gulf One and worked on an American HQ in Gulf Two (or after during the Stabilisation phase?).

He was given the AK by 101st AB Div as a memento of his time on the Higher HQ they were working to (I think he was Deputy Comd or Chief of Staff?).

 

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When I came back from Iraq in '05 we all had to go through Kuwait for retro and get everything inspected (gear, clothing, etc.).  The only thing we were allowed to take home was the "Saddam Money", it was pretty much worthless.

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A guy with whom I worked some 25 years ago claimed his father-in-law had a BAR in his closet from his time overseas, Korea perhaps, maybe even WWII. I cannot remember all the details, it's been 25 years after all.

 

I cannot verify but the guy was not a BSer.

 

 

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Back about 2004 a rather elder6lady brought to the gun shop my wife worked at her late husband's guns.  Several Arisaka rifles,  some pistols,  some bayonets, and a Japanese light machine gun.   Everyone including the police officers looked the other way while the shop owner explained to her about the machine gun and suggested that she contact the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco about repatriating it.

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7 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Back about 2004 a rather elder6lady brought to the gun shop my wife worked at her late husband's guns.  Several Arisaka rifles,  some pistols,  some bayonets, and a Japanese light machine gun.   Everyone including the police officers looked the other way while the shop owner explained to her about the machine gun and suggested that she contact the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco about repatriating it.

If they were smart, they declined.

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8 hours ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

Don't forget the story of the little old lady who turned in a real live StG-44 to the police. Apparently her late husband had found a way to smuggle it home after the war. Fortunately it went to a museum instead of being destroyed.

Yeah, I recall that one.

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We had a US machete when I was a kid (I need to look for that thing again, I bet it's hidden in mom's garage).  Anyway, the story we were told was that grandpa found it on a german soldier in WW2.  So the german picked it up from an american and it was destined to be a war trophy for him, but then he met his maker.  Grandpa wasn't issued a machete, but he found it very useful and brought it back.  Grandpa also had a colt 1911 that I think he bought after the war. 

 

I had a friend who was in Vietnam.  He said he had a trunk filled up with cool war trophies but he got injured before he got it packed up and all his stuff disappeared by the time the trunk made it back to the US. 

 

I wanna see the aussie duffle bag they used to bring back that type 69 tank. 

 

 

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NVA canteen I brought back. I thought I'd use it when I was going backpacking w few years later. Dug it out to discover it  had a little frag hole in it that I hadn't noticed before. :angry:

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Found these in Cambodia. Had a rice bowl but I don’t know where that got to.

18685528-AC88-4F13-9E69-7928E9A2FDF7.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Alpo said:

Ivory?

Genuine Chinese plastic. :lol:

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23 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

We had a US machete when I was a kid (I need to look for that thing again, I bet it's hidden in mom's garage).  Anyway, the story we were told was that grandpa found it on a german soldier in WW2.  So the german picked it up from an american and it was destined to be a war trophy for him, but then he met his maker.  Grandpa wasn't issued a machete, but he found it very useful and brought it back.  Grandpa also had a colt 1911 that I think he bought after the war. 

 

I had a friend who was in Vietnam.  He said he had a trunk filled up with cool war trophies but he got injured before he got it packed up and all his stuff disappeared by the time the trunk made it back to the US. 

 

I wanna see the aussie duffle bag they used to bring back that type 69 tank. 

 

 

 

This reminds me of the, almost, war trophies my grandfather tried to bring home.  The biggie would have been a revolver.  He was in The Great War and was issued a revolver.  He was sent off for some training and, while he was gone, they issued the new Colt 1911.  Since nobody ever asked for the revolver back he stuck it in his duffel bag with a couple other odds and ends (including a German lighter and a piece of shrapnel that got lodged in a tree next to his head - He burnt his hand retrieving it because he didn't expect it to be hot).  Somewhere between France and home somebody looted the baggage and took everything of value/interest.

 

Angus

 

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