sweetburrahwine
82387
1295
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Dropped into Luzon in early 1945 after the C-47 aircraft that was transporting them was hit by enemy fire and heavily damaged. He and 12 other men from his stick managed to get out of the burning aircraft and landed far off course in enemy territory in the jungle. Stranded from the rest of the assault force, they had to survive in the harsh jungle environment fighting off Japanese patrols that happened upon them for almost 3 months until the Allied advance finally found them. Out of the 28 men he took off with, only he and 4 other men survived. My family still has the Arisaka Type-99 rifle he took from a Japanese sharpshooter that had attacked them. The story goes, he only had 3 rounds left in his .45, and when the sharpshooter pinned them down, he held it up and fired his last three rounds at the direction of the gunfire, luckily mortally wounding the shooter. He used the rifle for the last month he was stranded in the jungle; it most definitely saved his life.
TL;DR, Great Uncle was badass paratrooper and likely melted panties off with his sly-ass smirk.
forhasbutnobunghole
Terrible Trigger Discipline!
ShouldaWouldaCouldaMadeABetterUsername
My grandfather was in the 11th. He was part of the occupational forces in Japan after the war.
sweetburrahwine
I goofed; should say "February of '45"
cmehle
Look at that Thompson! Wonder where it ended up
thoujester
Can you show me a picture of the rife @op? Thanks!
misschuzzlewit
What a GUILF!
PrivateIsotope
oldmanestebansenior
That bag around his leg is an M2 Gas mask bag. I have the mask and the bag too
Blademan142
Can you post a photo of the rifle please? I'm really interested in seeing it :)
sweetburrahwine
Working on it. Thought I had pictures on my phone, but I'll have to take some more. Stay tuned....
MakeTheRomanEmpireGreatAgain
Alternative fact: Twin towers were actually structurally composed of panties. Alt/Math: 44+47+12+3+28+4+99+3+45=9/11
fedoraeuphoria
Dude! My great great uncle was the commander of the 11th Airborne! Got a cap named after him and everything
BrightStarEm
My grandfather was a navy seal in the pacific. Japan and such. Truly inspiring, thanks for sharing :)
conveniencestoreindian
If you value it, please take it out of that album and put it into something acid-free. I see damage from the acidic fibres of the album
sweetburrahwine
Solid advice, and will do ASAP. We just found this picture after it spent decades unnoticed.
olrem
My grandfather was also in 11th. Always cool to see them being talked about.
AlbinoRhino53
What chute popping out, Willis? - Instructor quizzing your uncle about his main and reserve parachutes
sweetburrahwine
nice.
Evermourn9
Do you have any details of the operation in which he was shot down? From what I can find on the net the 11th did 2 parachute drops in Feb
Evermourn9
And neither lost any planes. Tagaytay Ridge and the raid on Los Banos internment camp.
Ozarck
It looks like your great uncle is trying to say something. Can't tell what though. ask him, would you?
AverageJoeee
Thanks for sharing. Any chance you can share a picture of the rifle? :)
ACESandEIGHTZ
Badass! Don't kill his last name carry that with pride!
PerfectGifComment
ColBiff
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing. And.....how much for that rifle?
purpledevil2203
This sounds like Metal Gear Solid
AndresVargas
WATCHU TALKIN 'BOUT WILLIS?!
bloatedplutocrat
He has E-6 chevrons on his top but E-5 on his helmet. That's all I have to add.
gad885
Thats what you get for fucking the majors daughter
cmehle
I noticed that too... Thought for a moment the rocker was just scratched
sweetburrahwine
lol I noticed; must've just gotten promoted
ComradeNinjaCow
Great picture and an even better story OP! Share more if you have them!
FarflungWanderer
You don't hear much about the Pacific airborne divisions. Thanks for sharing, OP!
PirateBot
ye dern't hear much about th' Pacific airborne divisions. Thanks fer sharin', OP!
GadenKerensky
What's with the downvotes? Look at the username.
Merco
ya I'm upvoting this guy fuck the rest of you
GadenKerensky
I mean, it's less a 'guy' and more an 'it', but the sentiment's the same.
contrabille
My gramps was glider infantry. Not QUITE as hardcore but still savage. Thanks for sharing!
SexuallyImpotentTyrannosaur
Glider infantry were just as hardcore!
gad885
You meen he willingly fall from the sky and crashed into enemy territory just to shoot his way out. that's pretty hardcore man
sweetburrahwine
Truth.
KjellTRing
My great grandfather was a Norwegian resistance fighter who's parents in law were Nazis and he got tortured by gestapo.
contrabille
naw that's crazy though.
KjellTRing
You have any idea where your grandfather fought?
contrabille
I don't. He didn't talk about it and he's gone now. I own his WWII victory medal, though and his Korean War service medal.
pleaseconsiderthatImightbejoking
Does that rifle have an intact chrysanthemum? This floral marking https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Type_99_Markings.JPG
sweetburrahwine
No; unfortunately, it's been ex'd out. It is an early-war production model, though. The craftsmanship is of significantly higher quality.
AbstractBettaFish
Does it have those weird AA sights? I almost bought one of those a few months back but couldn't justify the $300 to my self
sweetburrahwine
No, it has a he standard ladder-notch and post sights
vintherfas
You would think it wouldn't be removed as the Japs didnt remove em till they surrendered. Just my 2 cents.
sweetburrahwine
I understand, but I'm not sure what process my Uncle had to go through to get the rifle back to the U.S. It may have had the (1/2)
sweetburrahwine
chrysanthemum ex'd out in whatever process it went through. This is the only logical explanation I've been able to come up with.
vintherfas
Nah m8, no worries, im not sayin your story is false, im just stating my thought. I believe as the arisaka wasnt standard issue the (1/2)
Rhoam
Can you post some pics of the whole gun please?
sweetburrahwine
(2/2) He engraved the stock with the 11th AB insignia and also his name and location (Luzon, Philippines). Will get back to you.
sweetburrahwine
I'd love to, and I thought I had some pictures on my phone, but I guarantee I'll deliver when i am back at my family's house again.
kah929
Holy hell I'd love to see that. He was a fucking badass
itsDukey
You lied
condor120
That sounds incredible
jadmaster5
.