From: "Norman Cobb", [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.capitolhillblue.com/2000/08/13/eng-lvrj/eng-lvrj_060216_213_506921189837.asp Legion Post Not Ready to Give Up Arms August 13, 2000 A.D. Hopkins In 1946 the Army issued rifles to American Legion Post 38 of Overton, and the post has used them ever since to fire volleys of blanks during the funerals of veterans. Harry Perkins, a 77-year-old charter member of Post 38 and World War II Navy man, wonders whether anybody will fire a salute over his own grave. That's because 54 years after issuing the rifles, the Army is demanding an accounting. And it wants those weapons it can find to be stored under conditions so onerous that post officials feel both unable and unwilling to meet them. The discussion is not about assault rifles, but four 1917 five-shot, bolt-action Enfields -- the kind that Sgt. Alvin York used to become a hero. The government dumped so many on the surplus market after World War II that they still retail for only about $350 in good condition. Some of the men who carried the Enfields up to the Overton Cemetery on Wednesday to practice the honor guard ceremony -- one they have conducted over the mortal remains of more than 75 veterans -- were almost as old as those rifles. Members of this honor guard had seen service in the South Pacific, France, Korea and Vietnam, and at least three different military branches. Yet they and their rifles moved in unison through Perkins' commands: "Load." "Aim." On "Fire!" Four blank cartridges exploded as one loud shot. "You'd be surprised how many veterans do want a military funeral, and it's real important to us that they get it," said one of the ceremonial squad. In the Moapa Valley, the chances that funeral will include a traditional rifle salute began to crumble in April with a two-day visit from two government inspectors. They asked to see the rifles held by Post 38, as well as those at a local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, and the World War II tank parked in front of the Overton Community Center. In June, Post 38 Commander John Fetherston, a 74-year-old ex-paratrooper who served in the South Pacific, received a letter saying: "Your post was issued 10 rifles in 1946. The inspection report states that you have four M1917 rifles ... please inform this office as to what happened to the remaining rifles issued in 1946." Fetherston said, "We're real upset with their demands. ... They just gave us the rifles and walked off, and 54 years later come back and want a detailed accounting. "We don't deny there were 10 rifles; because we don't know. Nearly all the guys who were running the post in those days are dead, and commanders have changed repeatedly, so I don't see how they expect anyone to know. I sent them a letter asking for the serial numbers and the exact address those rifles were sent. And as far as I am concerned, if they can't show us what rifles there were, none are missing." Perkins' recollection is that the government may have asked the post to store its rifles in a central vault back in '46. "But we told them that there wasn't a vault within 75 miles of Overton, and I don't believe they sent any further instructions. We don't have a post building, so the rifles were stored in private homes, and come deer season I guess some of them probably went deer hunting." Nowadays the veterans' rifles are stored in safes in private homes, but the April letter warned, "Please be advised that storing government issued weapons in a private residence is unauthorized. ... The enclosed rifle package contains a checklist of the current requirements and proper documents for you to complete the retention of these weapons." Some of the conditions the army demanded Post 38 meet: --Rifles must be stored in arms room of a National Guard Armory, U.S. Army Reserve Center, military installation or local law enforcement agency; or, in a clubhouse with metal doors, hardened steel bars or specified equivalents over the windows, and either a burglar alarm or security patrol. (Post 38 has always met in private homes and has no clubhouse, much less a fortified one.) --Provide photos of the locked cabinet or gun rack where rifles are kept. --Provide exterior photos of the building. --Provide a map to the storage facility for the convenience of inspectors. --Maintain a weapons control register in which members must sign weapons in and out for every ceremony. --Every year, provide a photo that must "clearly show that the weapons have the required blank adapter fixed to the end of the barrel." (Blanks will not cycle the actions of modern semiautomatic and automatic rifles, and a special blank adapter is required to do so. After the Review-Journal pointed out that Enfields are manually operated, an Army spokesman said that demand won't be enforced.) --Verify compliance with the Lautenberg Amendment, which in turn requires the state police to perform a background check and certify there is no record that the person held responsible for the rifles (Fetherston thinks this means him, as post commander) has ever been convicted of domestic violence. Thereafter, Fetherston must make sure that no Post 38 rifle is controlled, even temporarily for ceremonial use with blanks, by anyone with a domestic violence record. "They said we can store them in a bank vault, but the local bank says they don't want to fool with it," said Fetherston. "And we didn't even ask at the police substation because we decided we're not going for the rest of it. I'm not going to ask the state police to do any background checks on me. They can do one on me if they want to, but I'm not going to invite them into my life. And how could I certify that some member doesn't have a domestic violence conviction 20 years ago without doing a background check on every one?" Although nobody in Overton had yet suggested any desire to give up the rifles, the Army's first letter included detailed instructions about how to mail them back to a government arsenal. And nobody plans to do that, either; if the Army wants the rifles, they'll have to send somebody to get them. John Hudrlik, a 55-year-old Navy veteran and finance officer of American Legion Post 75 in Logandale, thinks those instructions mean that the Army's main intention is to get rifles away from veterans' groups. "They must think old veterans are the most dangerous people in America," he said with a laugh. "Because they've already shown themselves willing to take up arms against an unreasonable government." Ronald Morton, a spokesman for the Army's "Donation Program," said via e-mail Friday that despite the program's name, ceremonial rifles have always remained government property. "Accountability always was a factor, however, not fully enforced," he wrote. From 1996 to 1998 it was discovered much of the equipment had disappeared, and enforcement has been beefed up. "Inspections are currently taking place nationally for ALL organizations in possession of army conditionally donated equipment," he wrote, but didn't respond when asked what kind of organizations are involved. Clark Schmutz, American Legion adjutant for Nevada, said other veterans posts in Utah and Northern Nevada have had similar contacts from the Army, and others expect them. "About 98 percent of the posts have no problem adhering to the law and providing the updated paperwork," wrote Morton. Meanwhile, Post 38 is weighing its options. Members might buy rifles on the open market. The members could then keep their rifles wherever they like. Bill Pickett, 69, an Army veteran of the Korean War, had another suggestion. "We might hold a mock funeral ceremony where we throw simulated spears over the casket." Of course, he remarks, the Army would doubtless require the spears to have blunted ends -- the Stone Age equivalent of blank adapters. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
