Army Coughs Up Pimp Gun

Charles Honeycutt finally got his stolen gold plated Colt .45 back from the Army recently. This 2nd of 500 commemorative pistols was produced by Colt, and given to General Omar Bradley to honor his distinguished military career. When Bradley died, his wife Kitty gave the 1911 to Honeycutt, who had served with Bradley as a trusted aide and family friend. Honeycutt, in turn, allowed Kitty Bradley to keep the gun at her Rancho Mirage home so she could display it with other memorabilia honoring her husband.

Then Kitty Bradley died. She had willed her entire estate to the U.S. Army. They seized the pistol with the rest of Bradley's estate. Honeycutt said he told the Army that the gun was registered to him and should not be considered part of the Bradley estate since it had been loaned to the widow.

But it was taken anyway.

In hopes of getting the gun back, Honeycutt turned to an Arizona-based Web site, MilitaryCorruption.com, where retired U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Glenn MacDonald serves as editor-in-chief. The Web site advocates reformation of the military justice system and investigates military wrongdoing, MacDonald said, adding that Honeycutt's dilemma was a case worth following. "This is one of the most despicable things that I, as an Army officer, have seen," MacDonald added. It was only when threatened with a a federal lawsuit that the Army reacted.

"They shipped the gun back to California to the executor of the estate," Honeycutt said, adding that he had already filed a petition in Riverside County probate court for the return of his gun. Armed with affidavits from friends, acquaintances and military officials, Honeycutt eventually convinced a judge to order the gun returned to him. He picked the weapon up last week after it was shipped to R&R Gun Shop, 665 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. The owner of the shop, Ron Bowen, was one of those who had signed an affidavit affirming that Honeycutt owns the gun.

A retired U.S. Army transportation officer, Honeycutt said the incident has left him with bad feelings about certain Army officers he dealt with in Pennsylvania. "I've got congestive heart failure, and both my kidneys are operating at only 15 percent. I believe they thought they could just take the gun and I wouldn't fight it. Or if I did, they thought that I'd die before anything happened," he said. Officials with the Army did not return calls seeking comment.

Now that he has the gun back, Honeycutt said it will become a cherished family heirloom. He plans to pass it on to his son, who he hopes will hand it down to one of his own children. "I never forgot what the general told me. Even when I was down - at the worst times - I kept thinking about what Gen. Bradley said," Honeycutt said. "I never gave up."

It's a shame he did not stop by Wal-Mart, buy a value pack of Winchester White Box and shoot the hell out of that poor gun!