Family Guns

I always liked this picture of my great grandfather (left) and crew after a successful hunt in SE Kansas. By Rich, I., Cripple Creek, Colorado

LZ Mace - 1970 We look pretty nonchalant considering what we'd just been doing. The guy on the left was a warrant-officer (WO) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) specialist. I'm on the right, the Base Defense Officer (BDO)(call sign Bruiser 10) at LZ Mace, about 50 miles east of Saigon (yeah, I still call it Saigon). I was also in charge of the Base Defense Platoon (BDP) which was a misnomer as it was almost company-sized in the number of assigned personnel. By Charles S., Cripple Creek, Colorado

My father, aka 'Chief', hamming it up on Christmas morning. Seemingly a right of passage back in the old days, your 10th or 11th Christmas usually was the occasion of getting your BB gun. This was your first chance to show how responsible and thoughtful you were becoming on the way to manhood. By Charles S., Cripple Creek, Colorado

Apparently there's more than one form of PTSD. By Todd R., Florissant, Colorado

Duck Camp - 2008 - Monte Vista CO This was the Cripple Creek - Victor contingent of our duck camp outside of Monte Vista. By Charles S., Cripple Creek, Colorado

Hard to believe it was over 50 years ago that this young soldier, and future Teller Rifle, was part of the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. By Charles S., Cripple Creek, Colorado

This is a photo of my father, aka 'Chief' (nah, no Indian blood..that was his rank in the Navy during WWII) on the family home 'ranch' ('ranch' in the California sense of five acres of navel oranges). By Charles S., Cripple Creek, Colorado