“I still have my Glenfield Marlin Model 20 that I bought back in 1976 at the Sears in Colorado Springs.”
Same with my Winchester single shot 22 LR. I had just turned 10 in 1975 and got my military ID at Eielson AFB in Alaska. I saved up my allowance, and my first ever purchase at the Base Exchange was that rifle. It’s in my safe now, I just had it at the range last week and it’s still an accurate beauty 48 years later.
Did you go out and stalk grizzlys in the blueberry bushes on base?