This Luger was brought back from France in 1919 by my grandfather Pvt. Frank Gustaf Severin Erickson. It originally belonged to a German officer killed in early October of 1918 in the Small Pocket of the Argonne Forest. This was during the time Frank was with the 308th Infantry and a runner / rifleman with Company H and soon would become part of an elite group, a surviving member of the "Lost Battalion."

The German officer was brought in with Captain William J. Cullen present along with Company H. Cullen confiscated the weapon from the German Officer and later gave it to his runner, Frank.

The Pistole Parabellum 1908 also known as just Luger is a toggle-locked recoil- operated semi-automatic pistol. The design was patented by Georg Luger in 1898 and produced by German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken starting in 1900. The first Parabellum pistol was adopted by the Swiss army in May 1900.

I recall when Frank gave the Luger to me when i turned 16 and my father was there. Frank was a long-time gunsman and the two discussed the Luger in regard to how Frank originally received it from his commanding officer Captain William J. Cullen. Frank stayed in contact with Cullen their whole lives. They were very friendly and Frank visited NYC from time to time.

The end of the Luger tale is amusing to a certain degree. My father took it away from me when I went up north to San Francisco to go to college. He said, the last thing you need is a Luger. I agreed. Frank had also given me his service revolver from Fort Lincoln (Mandan, North Dakota) when he was a guard at the POW camp from 1943 through 1945. My dad grabbed that too. Smart man as I did not need handguns where I was going. In the end I received them back in 2014. Now almost 100 years later after Frank received the Luger in the first place I postit here. From France to Dakota to California and beyond.

Frank's nature was adventurous from before the time he left Dakota for the west in 1910 at 18 years of age seeking a new life, adventure and better weather. He gave it his all whatever he did.

Memories of conversations between Frank and my father Ernest Anders percolate and are helpful with the postings here. Frank had reverence for the Luger and kept it close and used it over his lifetime. He gave it to me to keep it in the family and I was his oldest grandson of six grandsons. Now close as you can come to 100 years later, here it sits, waiting for where it will go next.