Gun returned to MOH owner

ROS sent us a link to the Southern Oregon Mail Tribune article about one veteran who returned a stolen M1911 to it’s owner, a Medal of Honor recipient who had used the handgun during the deed which earned him the medal;

“His medal citation actually mentions the pistol,” Berry observed, referring to the fact the wounded McGinty used it to kill five enemy soldiers attacking his position.

However, Berry did not yet know whether it was the same McGinty associated with his newly acquired pistol. He used the Internet to track down McGinty, 71, in Beaufort, S.C. McGinty had retired from the corps as a captain in October 1976.

The retired Navy warrant officer called the retired Marine Corps officer and asked him if it was his pistol.

“He said, ‘Do you mean 0103889?’ ” [George Berry] recalled, noting [John J. McGinty USMC] had just recited the gun’s serial number.

That’s when McGinty informed him the pistol had been stolen in 1978 when it was on display along with his uniform and sword. It was the very same pistol McGinty had used in Vietnam to repulse that final assault.

Berry sent the pistol to Beaufort. After receiving it, McGinty called and wanted to pay Berry for all his expenses.

“I told him I didn’t want any money, that I had just wanted a Model 1911,” Berry said.

Turns out that McGinty had a completely original Colt 1911 manufactured in 1918 that had been owned by John Finn, a longtime friend. Out of gratitude for having received his pistol back, he sent the Finn pistol to Medford for Berry to pick up last week.

Category: Real Soldiers