This
Is a type 14 Nambu semi automatic pistol.
It has wooden handle scales,
a safety lock,
and fixed sights.
It comes in a nifty leather case, complete with an extra magazine,
some cleaning papers,
and this rod that is used to force the papers into the barrell.
I think.
It was most likely used by a Japanese officer during World War II.
and before I got it,
it belonged to my grandfather.
Joseph James Moser
was born in Hague, North Dakota
June 1, 1912.
Hague is a small town.
Small.
Like less than 70 people small.
With terribly cold winters.
You know how your parents used to say
they walked 3 miles in the snow to get to school?
Yeah, my grandpa actually did that.
When he was six.
He never finished school, as he puts it,
because of music.
When he was 12, he traveled with a six piece band.
Joe was an amazingly gifted piano player.
He never had lessons,
he couldn't read music,
but he could play.
He was a prodigy.
Joe even played with a military band
when he first enlisted in the United States army.
He was assigned to Echo company 383 infantry,
96th division, nicknamed "The Dead Eyes".
On April 1, 1945, they landed in Okinawa, Japan,
where he fought in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War.
What was known as the "Typhoon of Steel".
Over 200,000 soldiers and civilians died in that battle.
A battle that lasted 82 days.
My grandfather never talked about any of this.
He mentioned his training in the United States,
and going to Layte in the Philippines,
but all he ever told my mom,
was how hard war was,
and how many friends he lost.
In his journal,
he only wrote a couple of sentences about the war.
He said, "After the Leyte campaign,
We went to Okinawa and made the initial landing there.
After the fighting ended, I boarded the ship on the
14th of August for the United States".
That space between sentences, is huge.
A giant hole.
A mystery.
What happened over there?
What did he experience?
Any information regarding the campaign,
and what happened, I had to research, and find out for myself.
Digging through different accounts,
I found here and there.
The more I read,
the more I was caught up,
overwhelmed with emotion for what my grandfather must have seen and experienced.
I had no idea.
The thing is,
I knew my grandpa as a funny, kind, piano playing man.
who always had a toothpick in his mouth,
and a dozen more in his shirt pocket.
He loved his family.
He was married to the love of his life for over 50 years.
He loved God, and he loved his country.
He loved learning,
and was often seen with an encyclopedia in his hands.
He could fix anything
and had an extensive array of tools and gadgets in his garage.
Once, he was the technical military advisor for the 1955 Korean War film,
"Target Zero."
He took his wife dancing frequently,
even after he retired from the army in 1976.
In 1978, he moved back to North Dakota
to a town named, "Strasburg".
He often played paino for the residents of a nursing home
And after noticing the Strasburg cemetary was poorly organized,
he spent years volunteering to match names to graves
creating a map of the cemetary.
Grandpa passed away in 1997.
After my grandmother died in 2008, I traveled to Strasburg with my mom, to help with the funeral, and other arrangements.
While in their home,
I found this adorable pictue of my grandparetns.
I asked my mom about the gun my grandfather was holding.
She had no clue
She didn't know he ever owned a gun.
But then she told me that if i found it,
she was sure my grandfather would want me to have it.
I spent the next two days looking
but coudn't find anything
The day before we had to leave, I went upstairs to a room,
where I had found other military related things.
I had looked in that room
several times figuring it was the most logical place the pistol would be.
I actually said out loud,
"Grandpa, we're leaving tomorrow.
If you want me to have this gun,
I need you to help me find it."
As I stood there, I had the thought to check a closet full of uniforms I know I had checked several times already.
I was compelled to look one more time.
On the back of the closet,
was a row of hooks.
And on one of those hooks,
a leather strap,
which was connected to a leather case,
Excited, I quickly grabbed the case and opened it.
I still don't know the story behind how my grandfather came to possess this gun,
or why he kept it for almost 60 years.
I may never know.
And it really doesn't matter.
I found a connection to him through it
and the experience of finding it.
I've gained a stronger relationship with him,
as I learned more about his life
what he experienced and what was important to him.
He was always so sweet to me
He made me laugh;
made me feel good about myself.
He gave me his name and his sense of humor.
I am grateful to know him better.
For the chance to strengthen our relationship
even after he had passed on.