When I was a Marine Lieutenant in the late '70s, I bought an M-1 from a Gunner's Mate on the USS Dubuque on the way to a training exercise in California. I didn't have anyplace to store it at 29 Palms, so I decided to carry it by bus to my in-laws' house near L.A.. The problem was that even though I was in uniform, I didn't have a case for it, so I had to carry it in the open at sling arms. I also had an ammo box to carry, so I was really feeling conspicuous.
When I got to the L.A. bus station, I stood in a corner waiting for the next bus to take me to the San Fernando Valley and tried to stay out of the way. All of a sudden, a commotion broke out and the crowd opened up to give room to a fight between an LAPD officer and a taller, wiry African-American man. They were rolling around on the floor punching each other and I didn't see any sign of the officer's partner. I could also see two other men edging towards the two fighting, apparently getting ready to help the first guy fight the officer. The man on the ground with the officer tried to get the officer's pistol, so I stepped forward, opened the bolt on my M-1, and popped open the ammo can to pull out a clip.
Everything stopped at once: the men on the floor stopped punching, the two men approaching stopped where they were and everything went quiet. The cop on the floor started moving again and quickly cuffed the man he had been struggling with and his partner showed up and arrested to two other men. I returned the clip to the ammo box and closed the bolt of my rifle and the first cop - the one that had been fighting - came up to me and asked if I really was going to shoot. I told him that if that guy had gotten the pistol, I would have.
He looked at me for a second and then said "can I help you carry your rifle to your bus?". I was happy to let him carry it...
Good story.
I thought the punchline of your story was going to be that the cop arrested you.
Semper Fi
Great job Lt.
funny how the officer wanted to carry the rifle and not the ammo box... he needed to be in control.
i would have said, carry the ammo box... i’ll keep the arms in control.
teeman