[Milsurplus] How I Use an LM

[Mike Morrow]

> I want to talk about history. The history of any item is not just the
> history of what occurred at just one point of time in an items existence...

Very true.  One must differentiate between the historically significant history
of an item, versus its subsequent insignificant history by the use of hobbyists.
This applies not only to radios, but to weapons, vehicles, and other military
items whose honorable halcyon days are behind them after the military releases
surplus gear to civilian users, unless those later users preserve the item for
use EXACTLY as the military used it. 

Generally speaking, no one wants a sporterized M1903 Springfield rifle or a GPW
jeep that someone has hot-rodded (even just adding modern running lights).  Works
addressing the history of such items will never waste words on what civilian
hobbyists did to the gear.  Likewise, why should radio gear in civilian hobbyist
use be accorded any reverence or relevance?  I would discard any work about US
military gear that wasted space describing what hams did with it.  Total nonsense.

Many hams accord their own selves some great achievement when they use military
gear, and they seek acknowledgement of their personal technical achievement and
importance.

This ex-military ham of 44 years sees nothing there.  For at least fifty years
there's been no justification for actual use of this old military gear.

Do what you want with your property, but don't expect accords of glory from it.

Mike / KK5F