Post by Decatur on Feb 11, 2011 6:22:37 GMT -5
Ronald Reagan Tells Story of Saving Nurse
Mandeville, LA - On the occasion of President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, an audio tape of him describing how he used his pistol to save a nurse has been discovered, and the recording has been made public. This recording was made in 1983 when Grits Gresham had a private interview with the President in the Oval Office for an article in Sports Afield magazine.
To the surprise of Gresham, a noted conservation and outdoor writer, as well as press secretary Larry Speakes, Reagan related how he used a Colt .45 automatic pistol to stop a mugging on the streets of Des Moines, IA, in 1933. The article was published in Sports Afield magazine to a skeptical response by many in the media, but Melba King came forward to say that she was that nurse, even though she never knew who it was who had saved her.
The recording was found by Gresham's son, Tom Gresham, who hosts a nationally-syndicated radio program titled "Tom Gresham's Gun Talk." The audio recording has been posted as a podcast on the Gun Talk web site and can be downloaded directly at www.guntalk.libsyn.com Grits also wrote an article for a magazine in 2002 about his interview with Reagan, which can be found at www.guntalk.com
"I remember Dad telling me about the interview, and that Larry Speakes said he had never heard that story," said Tom Gresham. "It's particularly interesting that President Reagan was born in 1911, and he used a Colt pistol called the Model 1911 because it was adopted by the War Department for military use in that year. That model is not only still made, but it's one of the most popular handguns in America, even more popular now, 100 years later."
The kicker to the story of how Reagan stopped the mugging by pointing his pistol at the armed man was that the young sportscaster -- years before becoming an actor and politician -- had no ammunition for the gun. He was bluffing, but it worked, and he saved Melba King.
In its 16th year of national syndication, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio airs live on Sundays from 2PM-5PM Eastern, and runs on more than 100 stations, plus on XM (Ch. 152) Satellite Radio. All Gun Talk shows can be downloaded as podcasts through Apple iTunes, the Gun Talk iPhone App, the Blackberry Podcast App, the Android App or at www.guntalk.libsyn.com More information is available at www.guntalk.com
Mandeville, LA - On the occasion of President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, an audio tape of him describing how he used his pistol to save a nurse has been discovered, and the recording has been made public. This recording was made in 1983 when Grits Gresham had a private interview with the President in the Oval Office for an article in Sports Afield magazine.
To the surprise of Gresham, a noted conservation and outdoor writer, as well as press secretary Larry Speakes, Reagan related how he used a Colt .45 automatic pistol to stop a mugging on the streets of Des Moines, IA, in 1933. The article was published in Sports Afield magazine to a skeptical response by many in the media, but Melba King came forward to say that she was that nurse, even though she never knew who it was who had saved her.
The recording was found by Gresham's son, Tom Gresham, who hosts a nationally-syndicated radio program titled "Tom Gresham's Gun Talk." The audio recording has been posted as a podcast on the Gun Talk web site and can be downloaded directly at www.guntalk.libsyn.com Grits also wrote an article for a magazine in 2002 about his interview with Reagan, which can be found at www.guntalk.com
"I remember Dad telling me about the interview, and that Larry Speakes said he had never heard that story," said Tom Gresham. "It's particularly interesting that President Reagan was born in 1911, and he used a Colt pistol called the Model 1911 because it was adopted by the War Department for military use in that year. That model is not only still made, but it's one of the most popular handguns in America, even more popular now, 100 years later."
The kicker to the story of how Reagan stopped the mugging by pointing his pistol at the armed man was that the young sportscaster -- years before becoming an actor and politician -- had no ammunition for the gun. He was bluffing, but it worked, and he saved Melba King.
In its 16th year of national syndication, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio airs live on Sundays from 2PM-5PM Eastern, and runs on more than 100 stations, plus on XM (Ch. 152) Satellite Radio. All Gun Talk shows can be downloaded as podcasts through Apple iTunes, the Gun Talk iPhone App, the Blackberry Podcast App, the Android App or at www.guntalk.libsyn.com More information is available at www.guntalk.com