A Vietnam Trooper

They say every gun has a story. A reader submission series from American Handgunner, Wheelgun Diaries seeks to tell some of those stories through the words of revolver owners.

The following stories were shared by email with permission to publish.

A Vietnam Trooper

Three very important things happened in 1968.

The first was when I was transferred (at my request) to the Republic of Vietnam from my assignment in South Korea. A re-enlistment was coming up and I figured if I enlisted in Vietnam any bonus I would receive would be tax-free. The second and third were a dark time in our nation’s history — the shooting of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr in April and politician Robert F. Kennedy in June.

I arrived in Vietnam in March of 1968 and received a letter from my father, a combat veteran of both WWII and Korea, telling me he was sending a gift. A week or so later a box, larger than it had to be to conceal the contents, arrived at the U.S. Air Force base post office.

Opening the box in private, as I was told, I was very surprised to see a dark blue cardboard box — inside, a Colt Trooper Mk III. Also inside the box was a leather holster and belt slide to hold six rounds of ammunition, though no ammo was included.

At the time, the Air Police were still carrying some sort of Smith & Wesson revolver. I had a good friend who was a security policeman and he gave me six rounds of .38 Special. I carried the revolver and those six rounds for the remaining 11 months of my tour of duty. With the exception of my friend and my dad, no one knew of the existence of my revolver.

After Vietnam, I was sent back to South Korea. But before leaving, I gave the six rounds to another air policemen, telling him I found them on the perimeter road that went around the base. Arriving back in Korea, I took the revolver to the Air Police and had them secure it in their armory until I transferred back to the States in April 1970. The ol’ man was sure happy to see the Colt in my luggage when I arrived home in Los Angeles!

About three years later, I was assigned to Berlin (inside the wall) and the Trooper went along for the ride. The U.S. Army maintained a very nice range there. Those six rounds of .38 Special were the only .38s ever chambered in the Trooper, except for a few snake loads. I can only estimate that upwards of 50,000 rounds have been fired through it, with it needing a broken trigger replaced about 10 years ago.

At 74, the full-house magnum loads are getting a little heavy for me, but until recently, I was still able to touch off 50-100 rounds each month. With the stay-at-home restrictions here in California I am not able to make it to the range. Maybe soon.

Frank White
SMSgt, USAF, Retired

A "Fitz" Special

I found this Colt .38 Special a few years back. It had been sitting in a gun shop for a while for $200. It wasn’t pretty, but it shot well so it came home with me.

I happen to like short barrel revolvers, and originally, this wasn’t one. I had seen a Fitz Special when the idea came over me to make this 6″ Colt look like a Fitz.

One of my usual stops told me about a kid who has just become a gunsmith. He had set up a small shop near his house so I gave him a call and made a donation to his new business in the form of some micrometers, lathe bits and reamers I had. In return, he cut down the barrel, crowned it, reattached the front sight and rounded the butt stock. He wouldn’t cut the trigger guard, but he did give me some walnut for the grips, which I shaped. I’m still debating on the trigger guard; I almost cut it of the other day but got involved with another project.

I hear the kid is now studying to be a doctor. I guess he prefers cleaner hands, and he can always have a second job.

Jim Lieto

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