Mr. Murphy's M1

CMP ^ | MAR-03 | CMP staff

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

CMP Reunites Korean War Veteran with Wartime Rifle

Sitting on a hill overlooking the Imjin River in Korea in 1951, Army Private James Murphy of the 1st Cavalry, 8th Regiment, 2nd Battalion worked to flake off the mud encrusted on his M1 Garand rifle. After disassembling it for cleaning, he took the pencil he had used earlier to write a letter home and scrawled his initials on the end of the stock before reinstalling the butt plate. "I never gave it another thought," he said fifty-two years later, then pausing, added, "until a few weeks ago."

James Murphy served in the U. S. Army during the Korean War. He earned the Combat Infantryman Badge and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat. He had qualified expert with the M1 and several other weapons. Much of his time in Korea was spent driving a tank hauler and retriever, sometimes very close to the fighting. He worked on the tanks and also the trucks he drove. But he was also assigned to make many combat patrols. He was, after all, an infantryman. So, it is easy to see how something as small as scribbling his initials under the butt plate of a rifle could slip his mind.

However, in late 2002, the Service Grade M1 Garand manufactured at Springfield Armory that he ordered from the CMP was delivered to his doorstep in Fennimore, Wisconsin. Mr. Murphy opened the box with excitement, "I hadn't held an M1 in years and when a friend of mine told me about the CMP, I ordered a Garand as soon as I could," he stated. After the cardboard and packing foam were pulled away, a well-worn M1 found its way into his hands. Mr. Murphy held it and began to think of all the years that had passed since he had been in Korea and carried an M1 Garand rifle every day.

Since he bought the rifle for target shooting, Mr. Murphy decided to follow the procedure recommended by the CMP. He stripped the rifle down for inspection and cleaning before he ventured to the range with his new prize. The CMP supplies detailed instructions with each rifle it sells and recommends a thorough inspection and cleaning before firing. "There are some things I just never forget," he said sitting over his rifle at his kitchen table, "and I remembered exactly how to strip and clean a Garand."

"During the takedown of the rifle, I took all the metal off of the stock to make sure no surface rust had found its way into any parts of the rifle. When I removed the buttplate, I could barely believe my eyes." Mr.Murphy stood and carried the rifle to a window to put better light on the stock. "My eyes aren't the best in the world these days, so I needed to look again," he said. Standing by that window in his house in Wisconsin, Mr. Murphy was taken back in time to Korea. There under the butt plate were the initials he had scrawled while sitting on that hill in Korea over fifty years earlier. Mr. Murphy immediately contacted the CMP about this coincidence, a coincidence whose odds are much greater than winning the lottery…an occurrence that may not happen in many lifetimes.

To put the odds of this happening into perspective, over six million M1 Garands were produced; nearly all ended up in the hands of soldiers in combat during World War II, Korea and even as late as the Viet Nam War. The odds of receiving the very same rifle one was issued during the Korean War are astounding - the odds of winning the lottery are indeed better. The CMP sells rifles on an as ordered basis, meaning no picking and choosing is allowed, the customer simply gets the next rifle that comes off of the rack. "It seems as if this rifle and I were not meant to be apart," he said with a smile, "and some day I will leave it to my grandson so it will always be in our family."

That day on the hill overlooking the Imjin River in 1951, Jack Murphy did more than write a letter home to his wife, he wrote his initials on the butt stock of his rifle to send a letter to himself that he was destined to receive over 50 years later. By now, both Mr. Murphy and his rifle have spent some time together on the shooting range, relaxing and enjoying the freedoms they helped to secure.

For more information on how you can own a piece of history, go to the CMP Rifle Purchase web page at http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/index.htm.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

James Murphy with the Springfield Armory M1 Garand rifle he purchased from the CMP…a rifle with which he shared a long personal history

The only photo Mr. Murphy has of himself in the field in Korea. Mr. Murphy is on the left with his back to the camera. The picture was taken on a hill overlooking the Imjin River.

The butt stock of Mr. Murphy’s M1. Computer enhancement was applied to aid in seeing the position of the original light pencil marks on the wood. The pencil marks, while faint from wear under the metal butt plate, survived for over 50 years.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

How many people are ready to call bullshit on this story? LOL It could happen but, I don't know?

[spunkets]

Hmmm, looks like he bought a rifle case from Hobby-Stitch too. He'll probably need some ammo. I'll have to drop him off some.

[Billthedrill]

It did happen. It happened to my late father - not an M1, but something even more unlikely, a Smith & Wesson U.S. Army Model 1917 DA .45 - it's a revolver that takes the .45 ACP cartridge in half-moon clips. It was an old weapon they gave the 106th Illinois Cavalry, turned in prior to WWII and replaced by the now-ubiquitous M1911A1 semiauto.

He purchased it surplus shortly after the war. Noticed it had a familiar-looking chip out of the wooden grips. Took the grips off and on the inside of one of them there were his initials, just as he'd carved them. One of my prize possessions - I have it in my lap as I type this. It was the first large-caliber handgun I ever shot.

Nobody believed him, either.

Sometime - maybe next FReepmeet over some homebrew - ask me about my own CMP M1 story. Months I spent working on the stock, and on its first outing I used some suspect ammo. All I can tell you is "it blowed up real good..."

[SamKeck]

Drill Instructor Maggert: Private Keck! What's the first thing you do when cleaning your weapon? (Looking for the response: First check to see that it isn't loaded.)

Private Keck: Sir! The first thing to do is to check the serial number of the weapon, sir!

Drill Instructor Maggert: Private Keck, you are a simpleton, a pussy, and a dumbshit all rolled into one. Now tell me why you're going to check the serial number first.

Private Keck: Sir, to make sure the Private isn't about to clean somebody else's weapon instead of his own, Sir.

[teeman8r]

"it definitely could happen", says john kevin mcdermitt, who carved his initials under the butt plate of his garand that same year, "i only hope" mcdermitt laughs, "that lightning will strike again and i will be reunited with my rifle"...

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

What a great story. I thought long and hard about buying an M-1 Garand rifle around a year ago. After looking at a Springfield M-1A rifle, I made my decision real quick.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Be aware of the difference between the original National Armory in Springfield, Mass. (of M1/M14 fame) and the Springfield Armory, Inc.(R) in Illinois, which makes modern M1A(TM) rifles.

[RippleFire]

BUMP

[Travis McGee]

Stranger stuff has happened.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Proof that even Murphy's Law is vulnerable to Murphy's Law.

[Intolerant in NJ]

M1 - da*n I still have a bruise under my right eye from failing to make an effective spot-weld last time I fired mine.....

[Squantos]

Kewl story, the key is if Murphy "believes" it is his rifle. The old vet deserves to die a happier man IMHO ....now if they can just figure out if Jack is James or James is Jack.........Dat Murphy is everywhere dang it !

Stay Safe !!

[archy]

Stranger stuff has happened.

Once long ago in Germany, circa 1967, I was cutting pine boughs for camouflage for our M113 *armored* personnel carrier/ambulance with our pioneer tool axe and the axehead bit into the aluminum side, leaving a nasty gouge where it wasn't too noticable, just above the rear *fender* around the track return sprocket, close to where the fuel/water can mounts by the back door/ramp.

Fifteen years later, in 1982 I had the occasion to ride in an Israeli M113 *Zelda* Nagmash armored personnel carrier returning from Lebanon from *Operation Peace for Galilee*. Having dumped our canteens on ourselves to cut off thye road dust, I pulled the 5-gallon jerrycan of water off the back to refill everyone's canteens. The gouge was still there.

Of course, it could have just been a similar bit of damage caused when some Israeli was chopping down pine trees in the desert....

More than 80,000 M113 family vehicles have been built. What are the odds...?

The real interesting part is that the old rifleman took the buttplate off to check for rust underneath. He still cared, even where it didn't show. I believe the next time I'm in Wisconsin, I'll swing by Fennimore and drop a six-gallon bucket of Garand clips to Mr. Murphy.