After 70+ years the Arisaka comes back to life.

[GunSlinger]

I'll add one thing about these old rifles. When I was younger, I saw Grandpa's Mauser in the basement of his farm house. I asked him about it and he let me hold it. I made a flippant comment of "Wow, I bet this rifle could tell a lot of stories." He looked at me with a fire in his eye, and tone of voice that I never her prior, and have never heard since. "You don't want to know those stories." Spoken as only a combat veteran can say it.

It is awesome that we can own and collect rifles that fought in some of these old battle rifles, but we have to remember that what these rifles were part of was far from the glamorous and romantic depictions we see on modern documentaries and movies on the topic. When you handle and fire these rifles, do so out of respect for the brave men that did the same thing in violent combat 70 years before.

This is spot on sir! I couldn't have said it any better!

 

[Lost Californian]

Thank you for telling us all this about you and your family. I appreciate it, and you, and your dad.

 

[whitetailbowhunter]

This thread just keeps getting better. Thanks for the story about your dad. He seemed like one hell of a guy, and thank you and him for your service!

 

[GunSlinger]

Pics added:

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/album.php?albumid=7871&attachmentid=25049

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/album.php?albumid=7871&attachmentid=25048

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/album.php?albumid=7871&attachmentid=25047

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/album.php?albumid=7871&attachmentid=25046

 

[mkgr22]

It even has the dust cover!! Very nice! Thank you for sharing this family heirloom, and the great story to go with it.

 

[BGDave]

Nice rifle. Thank you for sharing.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Pics added:

Photo 1 of 4 from Type 99 Arisaka

Photo 2 of 4 from Type 99 Arisaka

Photo 3 of 4 from Type 99 Arisaka

Photo 4 of 4 from Type 99 Arisaka

Kind of hard to tell from the picture, but is the chrysanthemum still intact? Typically these were still present on rifles captured in combat (i.e. not surrendered). Often they were later ground off by G.I.'s, perhaps as a sign of disgrace to the emperor of Japan, for whom the symbol represented.

Collecting and Shooting the Arisaka Type 99 Rifle

 

[Hopper]

Wow, that was an INCREDIBLE recounting of what you and your Dad talked about on that July night. I'm completely in awe. There's a good reason we call the WWII folks "our greatest generation". Your Dad sounds like he was something special, and you were fortunate to have him as a father.

My Uncle recently opened up to me a bit about his Vietnam days, and how close he came to not making it back near the end of his 2nd tour. A couple of his stories in particular about an ambush, and how he saved one of his men after a booby trap went off, was almost straight out of "Full Metal Jacket". As an adult old enough to listen to and understand his stories, I saw this man who had been my favorite uncle growing up in a very different light.

 

[GunSlinger]

Kind of hard to tell from the picture, but is the chrysanthemum still intact? Typically these were still present on rifles captured in combat (i.e. not surrendered). Often they were later ground off by G.I.'s, perhaps as a sign of disgrace to the emperor of Japan, for whom the symbol represented.

Collecting and Shooting the Arisaka Type 99 Rifle

The chrysanthemum was still intact until the trip home after the war. The order was given that any captured rifles with the chrysanthemum intact must have it ground off. Dad complied with the order and had it ground off on board the troop ship on his way home. When he captured it the rifle did not have the mono-pod. It did have a leather sling but that fell apart even before I was born.

 

[dusty711]

Keepsakes don't get any better than this! Nice story, thanks for posting!

 

[level0]

wow great story! Brings a tear to my eye. My great uncle was killed in North Africa fighting Rommel.

 

[danielson]

I beg to differ sir.. This thread is priceless, with or without pics....


Gunslinger:
Your a lucky guy. Your father is a hero to all of us. All of those guys are.

 

[Mgderf]

I ran across my type99 Arisaka a few years back, and it was a total surprise.
I did some work for a lady who wanted to trade the left-overs of her late husbands gun collection for my labor.

The Arisaka JUMPED out at me when she opened the chest. The first thing I saw was an intact and unmolested MUM. I then noticed that the anti-aircraft sights were also complete! Bore was dusty, but cleaned up to a mirror finish.
The stock on mine looks like it has been through 3 wars. It's still solid and functional, but it looks like it was used as a club, more than a dozen times.

I found almost 200 rounds of new, brass cased 7.7x58Jap so it was off to the range.
I loaded it up and sat down at a bench.
MAN that thing kicked!

My first thought was, some of the smallest people in the war were carrying one of the longest rifles, that kick like a mad mule. That steel butt-stock is very non-forgiving.

I love the rifle. It's accurate, and fun to shoot, just not too m,any rounds in a row.

 

[Bushido Devil Dog]

What did he do to get more then 1, he had to have been one tough guy to earn them against the j**s in the Pacific.

...my dad was with the 38th Infantry Division Engineers during the war. Just before their deployment into battle in early 1942 the Battalion Commander (lieutenant colonel) asked my dad if he knew how to drive. My dad said yes sir, and the LC told him that he was now his driver. Flash forward a few months and my dad was driving the LC back to camp after a trip up front to scout locations for an airfield. My dad and the LC were jumped by a small squad of 8 enemy soldiers (he never called them J**s, always enemy).

Thank you for sharing your Dad's story and pics of the rifle. I'll never tire of hearing the stories of the men and women that truly were our Greatest Generation...

Despite having actually fought against them and thus having EARNED the right to call his opponents whatever insulting term he liked, it is good to read that your Dad was a **class-act** that did not do so. It is good to see that despite all that he saw and experienced, he had enough class, grace, and maturity to refrain from using the popular racist terms of his generation to dehumanize the fellow warriors that he fought against; unlike some people that never faced the Imperial Japanese military in combat and yet think they have the right to continue to engage in the kind of childish name-calling that was popular back then...