Info on Marine who owned my S&W 1917

[BHP FAN]

hand...salute!

[WW2Buff]

Originally Posted by jverham

x2!!

x3! This is nuts, incredible story! -Ben

[L4D]

Tagged for further updates. My wife loves this thread as do I!!!!

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

this necro thread deserves to live on until the internet dies.

[g0t0]

Originally Posted by xibunkrlilkidsx

this necro thread deserves to live on until the internet dies.

BUMP for that. Semper Fi!

[Fireguy]

This is just an amazing thread. It has been said before, what caused Ruth to search her Dad's name right after David made his original post. Then what prompted David to revisit this thread after so many months? This just so cool.

[rerussell]

I still have several places to look for daddy's discharge and birth registration paperwork -- I just saw it and now I can't find it -- I did however find something I've been looking for since before Christmas.

Daddy had a friend type his Korean War Diary, but the document is really large and I'm not sure how to get it posted (if you were interested) on this board.

As I mentioned before, he wrote a page for the book 'Faces of War - Korean Vignettes'. I've copied his page and attached it to this post. You should be see a better picture of him, too.

I'll keep looking for those other papers and will post them when I find them.

Ruth

[DougJ]

Wow. I just read through this thread and I must admit to getting a touch teary-eyed. Thanks to you Ruth for sharing all this information about your Father, he sounds like a great man. SEMPER FIDELIS Marine...

My Dad is WWII vet, he's still with us but we all know his time in this world is growing short. That fact makes this thread all the more touching for me.

David: Class act all the way.

[Dr Pete]

Just an amazing story.
He will live on and be remembered.

Gotta go, I have something in both eyes.

[03fatboy]

Wow! Just seeing this now and I had to read each thread. Love it.

[Too Slow]

I read this the first time. Wow, it is the thread that just keeps on giving....

[jtv3062]

Thank you for posting the pdf rerussell. I know your dad is up in Heaven with Chester Puller.

Semper Fi

[Spiggy]

I like this thread, every time I see it, there's something cool and new to look at.

[ledman]

Originally Posted by usmcchet9296

Yeah but Marines keep everything till it falls apart

Yeah, I can vouch for that, and even when it broke we had to "improvise" lol
And Semper FI! This story is awesome!

[VW*Mike]

Wow. How crazy. Thanks to your father for serving the country. I think we have all wondered what it would be like if our firearms could give us a back story, well, this is a good one!

[rerussell]

I haven't forgotten -- I'm still looking for those papers! I know I saw them before Christmas, I'll probably find them in the first place I looked.

Ruth

[ojisan]

We are patient.
But still very interested!

[Zomgie]

This is amazing. Thank you Ruth for all you've shared with us. And David, well done, sir.

[tunder]

I was at a family get together Sunday and was talking with a brother in law of a sister in law.
He mentioned this thread, and I told him I knew it well.
I never knew he had any interest in guns or shooting.
Next weekend we're going skeet shooting.
Thanks to Ruth and Davidwhitewolf for finding me a new shooting buddy.

And by the way, thanks for sharing.

[Tacom]

This was an amazing read.

[mls343]

I still get teared up every time I read it! Amazing.

[gunner336]

Sounds like stuff for a movie . If anyone could actualy believe itthat people had expierences like this. True life is so often stranger than fiction.
It was such a pleasure to read all these POSTs of this story

[Rigma]

Thank you for sharing. This thread was a treasure to read through. I will surely check for updates as I am now eager to hear more like everyone else.

[Fireguy]

Ruth can request her Dad records DD 214.

[pullnshoot25]

Originally Posted by rerussell

Orville A Bierkle is my father. He was a sailor during World War 2 and was A Marine at the Chosin Reservior 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.

WOW. This is probably the most amazing post I have ever seen.

I am dumbstruck.

[pullnshoot25]

Originally Posted by mls343

I still get teared up every time I read it! Amazing.

I just nearly bawled in Geisel Library.

[TurboChrisB]

Great stuff....

[KylaGWolf]

Ruth that is just amazing about your father and grandfather. All I can say is thank you! Take all the time you need to find the papers we are more than patient. Also I hope you stick around our forum.

David you rock.

[rerussell]

I'm getting teary-eyed reading all your wonderful comments. Daddy would've been proud to have known all of you. I've scanned his war diary as a .pdf and wanted to attach it, but it exceeds my limit by 1.32MB. Copying it as a .jpg only lets me load 5 files.

Any ideas on how to get the whole document on the board?

Thanks.

Ruth

[rkt88edmo]

You can email it to me, I will split it into smaller PDF files to attach it.

rkt88edmo@gmail.com

[Spiggy]

Originally Posted by rerussell

I'm getting teary-eyed reading all your wonderful comments. Daddy would've been proud to have known all of you. I've scanned his war diary as a .pdf and wanted to attach it, but it exceeds my limit by 1.32MB. Copying it as a .jpg only lets me load 5 files.

Any ideas on how to get the whole document on the board?

Thanks.

Ruth

I'm looking forward to reading this. It really puts things into perspective being able to read the accounts of participants from a first person view. Memories often die with their owners, but with paper documenting their exploits and experiences their adventuring will always stay alive.

[rerussell]

Thanks! I've sent the file and really appreciate your help.

Ruth

[rkt88edmo]

Korea Diary
by
Orville A. Bierkle

Reproduced with permission.

[Bukowski]

Fantastic

Amazing to read a first person narrative like this.

[mitchsti]

All I can say is WOW this thread never ceases to amaze me

[rerussell]

Thank you for getting this posted. If you wondered what daddy 'sounded' like, his writting style is the same as his speaking style -- same word usage and sentence structure. I only wish I had something to share that showed his sense of humor.

Ruth

[edwardm]

Unbelievable. This has got to be the most amazing thing I've ever come across on the Internet, never mind on Calguns.

I'm going to share the URL to this thread with a bunch of non-CG friends. It's just that amazing and important.

[Big Jake]

Very cool story. Thanks for sharing!

[Spiggy]

I recommend this thread for archive.

so far it has delivered and delivered

[JHermsen]

Astounding, the story, with the pistol in it to boot!

Twenty one guns and a crisp salute to your father and you.

Something just got in my eyes as well....