January 19, 2013: Gun Appreciation Day

This Japanese rifle is not what I am appreciating today. The rifle, bayonet and sword were won in combat by my Father-In-Law, O.T. Bentrup in July, 1944. The information he let us know about these artifacts is limited because he didn't talk much about his time in the Pacific, but we can piece together a few facts from things he said at different times. The sword was used to murder civilians on Guam when the Marines invaded; this was learned from surviving civilians, and the information was gleaned by the Mrs. when she was a schoolgirl. If you do a search on the Internet for Guam War Atrocities, you can learn a bit about that. I asked O.T. why he brought this particular gun back to the states, and he said, "Because I killed the sonofabitch that had it!" That was unusually strong language for my Father-In-Law, but considering what we pieced together of the history of these weapons, he had very strong feelings about the events on Guam. So, on this day, ponder and appreciate the importance of guns in the hands of good people, who need to stop bad people with guns. O.T. used the M-1 Garand, the BAR, and 1911 .45's when he was in the service, and it is a safe bet that he was using one of those guns when he ended the reign of terror of one Jap soldier.

 Click on the Gun Appreciation Day poster on the left side of this page OR HERE for more information about this special event. Write your legislators and let them know that you do not want your rights trampled on by governmental would-be-masters.