It is a Winchester Model 94, s/n 1285090.
It was purchased in early 1943 by my late father, while still in high school. He didn't get a chance to hunt with it until the fall of 1946.
He was drafted in 1943, and left for basic training at Camp Adair, OR, two days after graduation in May, 1943. Dad shipped out for the South Pacific in the fall of 1943, joining the 132nd Infantry Regiment, Americal Division.
Dad's MOS was "Storekeeper" and he was responsible for the Co. PX when bivoaced. Most of the time, Dad was 1st Scout in the I&R Platoon for HQ Co., the 132nd Inf. He reported directly to Maj. Wirt Butler, and later commanders. Dad was 1st Scout through the end of the war, and remained with the 132nd throughout their six months of occupation outside of Tokyo.
Dad fought on Bougainville, Cebu, Leyte, and a couple other small islands. Most of the time he and the 2nd Scout observed the enemy without engagement, staying out in the jungle from several hours to four days, depending on the mission. Dad didn't talk much about his experiences. He did mention getting a Purple Heart for shrapnel in his elbow from a Japanese mortar. He talked about getting the company pet goat drunk on homemade booze. He talked about one time very late in the war when he and the 2nd Scout came upon some natives in a clearing, only to realize that they were Japanese soldiers wearing rags and castoff/captured GI uniforms. No one made a move, and Dad and the 2nd Scout kept walking, covering the Japanese until they were out of sight. Dad tossed the Japanese two packs of Camels as they walked through, covering them with their M1s. That's something else that Dad did speak about -- he had nothing but respect for the M1 Garand.
Dad passed away in April of 1997, of metastatic brain cancer. He was fine up until the last two weeks and it went really quick. It was after the funeral that I got to reading his service record, discovering that he had the PH with two oak leaves (wounded THREE times), the Bronze Star with one oak leaf, and was recommended for a Silver Star (which became the oak leaf on his Bronze). Dad never mentioned any of this, and none of those awards were in the medal boxes he brought home in April of 1946. I suspect that he "lost" them shortly after being awarded them. Like I said, Dad didn't speak much about his experiences, and Mom told me that Dad finally stopped having the thrashing nightmares, waking up in a sweat, about 1975 -- nearly 30 years after the war ended.
Dad got to use s/n 1285090 the fall of 1946 and took a four-point with it. He hunted three more years before hanging up the Model 94 until 1965 when I took it hunting for the first time and got a spike with it. I got one more deer with it, and a couple coyotes until I shipped out for MCRD Parris Island in August, 1972. S/N 1285090 hasn't been fired in anger since, but it does make it to the range once a year for a three-shot salute on or about 7 May, Dad's brithday.
Winchester Model 94, s/n 1285090 -- a very special levergun.
Noah
.***
