Bought a 66 and Got Extras

[welldoya]

I Bought a S&W 66-3 2.5" a couple of days ago.
I asked the guy if he had the box and he said "No, but I'll throw in an old box from a Model 10
that I picked up at a yard sale".
Inside the box was the original receipt for the Model 10 dated 1963, price of $51.80, sold to a captain in the U.S. Army, Advisory Team 7, APO San Francisco. The store was Polak, Winters & Company, San Francisco.

Also in the box was the application to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon Vietnam for a gun permit.
There were also a couple of cleaning rods that came with the gun.
I love that kind of stuff. Wish I had that Model 10.

 

[swagmeister]

Pretty neat. I like that kind of stuff also.

 

[RETDOE]

How about pictures of the documents?

 

[welldoya]

Pics as requested.
It appears that the captain ordered the gun and gifted it to his colonel who applied for the permit.
I don't know why these pics are coming out sideways. I didn't take them that way.

 

[Ameshawki]

A captain gifting a gun to a colonel? I bet there's a story behind that.

 

[JP@AK]

A captain gifting a gun to a colonel? I bet there's a story behind that.

July 1963 was long before our major troop commitments to the Republic of Viet Nam. The USAF advisory teams were small and tight-knit groups, working with RVN units. A gift from a subordinate officer would not be unusual, especially a gift of this nature.

 

[welldoya]

July 1963 was long before our major troop commitments to the Republic of Viet Nam. The USAF advisory teams were small and tight-knit groups, working with RVN units. A gift from a subordinate officer would not be unusual, especially a gift of this nature.

I was thinking that we didn't have many, if any, regular troops over there in 1963.
My Dad was there in 1965 or 1966, not sure which.

 

[lkabug]

Was not uncommon for a unit to provide a gift, such as a quality revolver to Commanding Officer as they rotated out.

Col Paul A Badly was truly an American Patriot. Col Baldy was an Advisor to the 25th Division, Army of Viet Nam.
At age 25, Major Baldy was Commander of the 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion in North Africa and Italy. FL. Had a direct hand in helping defeat Rommel. Col. Baldy died June 2008, Pensacola Fl.

 

[Justamessenger]

Welldoya
Since the box was sold face to face twice, perhaps the gun store could point you to the estate sale person, possibly get a lead on where the gun was sold or even to whom.
The provenance is usually the hard part, but all you need is the gun.

 

[Bald1]

If nothing else I'd be on the hunt for a model 10 from that era just to put in the box.

 

[Laketime]

Nice model 66

 

[John Patrick]

Great model 66!

I'd be looking to gift the box to the Colonel's kin.

 

[jmace57]

Obituary of Col. Baldy

Paul Baldy Obituary (2008) - Pensacola, FL - the Pensacola News Journal

 

[JP@AK]

I was thinking that we didn't have many, if any, regular troops over there in 1963.

The first major commitment of U.S. ground troops was when the the Marines were sent over in February, 1965. They went to I Corps.

The brand new 1st Cavalry went over a bit later that year, and were sent to II Corps with operations in the Central Highlands.

So, 1965 was the year of the big buildup.

 

[JP@AK]

The USAF advisory teams were small and tight-knit groups, working with RVN units.

Sorry, I should have written "The USAF and Army advisory teams . . . "

 

[welldoya]

I bought the Model 66 from an individual, not a gun store. The individual threw in the model 10 box just to sweeten the deal. He bought it at a yard sale, I suspect it was actually an estate sale.

 

[RETDOE]

Thanks for the pictures, very cool. Those documents are history, definitely look up the family, they may still have the gun.