A story that developed from a serch for a Marines 1917 S&W

[David H.]

Just follow the thread, enjoy David H.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=150941

[SloopJohnB]

Great story! Thanks for sharing David.

John

[jeremy69]

Wow, how cool....

[David H.]

His daughter was doing a Google search of her fathers name when the thread with her fathers pistol came up. This is one of Ruth's replies about her father. --------------------------

Orville A Bierkle is my father. He was a sailor during World War 2 and was A Marine at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. My grandfather had gotten the gun in World War 1 and gave him the pistol before he shipped out to Korea. He carried during his time in Korea.

As a previous poster suggested, daddy's side of the family has been serving in the Marines since 1913. Daddy originally joined the Navy to become a corpsman so he could serve in the Marines.

Daddy died in August 2003. He enjoyed being a Marine and was very proud to serve his country. He was also very active in the Navy-Marine Corps League and donated his time to the Devil Dog program. He was also active in the Chosin Few group and had a poem published in their newsletter.

My mom was a little over-zealous in disposing of his things, which is how the gun ended up at the Diablo gun store. He'd wanted me to have it, but I'm glad that you do -- it gives me the opportunity to share a little bit about him and he'd be tickled pink that you asked about the gun and him.

Daddy never met a stranger and he loved to talk about his guns, history and the military. He wrote to several bay area papers and had his letters published. He was able to give information to Iris Chang when she was writing the Rape of Nanking -- if you put his name in Google, the letter he wrote will be in one of the enteries. He also contributed to several books about the Korean War.

I don't know what happened to the vhs tape he mentions in his letter to the editor, but a complete copy of the film was found in my grandmother's (his mother) effects after she died. It was donated to the Library of Congress and the family was told it was the only surviving full copy of the original film. It was fully restored and a special showing was arranged in Washington D.C.

Hope this helps and thank you for asking about him. Please look him up in Google and read his letters to the editor -- they'll also give you an idea of who he was.

Ruth -- proud daughter of a proud Marine.

[Rob Greer]

This is an amazing story! Thank you for pointing it out... I read through the entire thread that spans about a year and a half or so. What are the odds?

[KeithNyst]

Incredible thread! I read every word of Sergeant Bierkle 's Korean War diary (posted as 2 pdfs links deep in the thread) including covering his time at the Chosin Reservoir. Absolutely amazing.

[ssteven]

To repeat a cliche...
WOW!

In the bigger scheme of things, it is fantastic that this has come around full circle, some things are just meant "To Be"

Thank You, and Regards,
Steven

PS: Proud caretaker of Elmer R. Sherman's Colt 1911 No. 2507XX

[David H.]

Thank you Orville A. Bierkle, USMC. Rest in peace on this Memorial Day. David H.