Favorite Firearms: A Hero’s War Trophy Returns

My father, Kenneth Cuddeback, graduated from high school in West Chester, Iowa, in 1942 and started at Iowa State University in the fall. When two of his high school friends were going to get drafted, he quit college to join the Army.

After basic training, he was selected for the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and sent to college at Clemson University. After a year, the ASTP was discontinued, and he was shipped to England in May of 1944 and sent to an infantry replacement depot. In July, three sergeants from the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division came to the depot and said that so many men had been lost in combat that replacements were badly needed. Anyone volunteering for the paratroopers could qualify after two weeks of training rather than the normal two months, so he did.

The training was very physical, and after making the required five parachute jumps, the men were made part of the 82nd. Now the training became more intense, as they were integrated into units with veterans who had survived the D-Day jump into Normandy. Kenneth fought with the 508th for the rest of the war. This included the Sept. 17, 1944, jump into Holland to secure bridges for a push into Germany. He was struck by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft gun as he parachuted into Holland but was lucky that the shrapnel lodged in the stock of his M1 carbine.

He was still just 19 years old when the 82nd was hauled by trucks into Belgium to plug the gap in the German offensive that became the Battle of the Bulge. It was at this time that he picked up a German Mauser he was later able to mail home.

My father returned home two days before Christmas 1945. A few months later, he married his high school sweetheart and started farming. He eventually “sporterized” the Mauser and, needing money to farm, sold it to a neighboring farmer. My father passed away in 2000. In 2001, I approached the neighbor who had purchased the Mauser, and he agreed to sell it to me. I am grateful to have it back in the family.

—Jim Cuddeback