Item Description
Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. This was a fantastic discovery! At first glance it was just your average beautiful M1902 Officer’s Presentation Sword, but upon discovery on who owned it was a whole different story!
The Model 1902 Army Officers' Saber is the current sword used by officers of the United States Army. The official nomenclature for the current regulation U.S. Army saber is “saber for all officers, Model 1902”. It was adopted on July 17, 1902 by authority of General Order No. 81. The M1902 saber was authorized for all officers with the exception of Chaplains. The sword was designed to be a replacement for the U.S model 1850 for foot Officers, and the model 1872 for the cavalry. This new design was developed in response to a request for a lighter cut and thrust weapon that soldiers “can actually fight with”.
This example has a very nice four bar nickel plated hand guard, with a black lacquered wood grip with finger grooves. The slim slightly curved 31.5 inch long blade shows some lovely etched designs, with U.S. on one side, and the Federal Eagle with the Motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on the other. The blade is fully nickel plated, and marked THE TILLEY-AMES CO. / COLUMBUS, OHIO on one side and U.S. ARMY / REGULATION / MADE IN U.S.A.
The spot on the blade that is often encountered blank, has the name OSMUND A. LEAHY engraved in a lovely gothic script. Major General Leahy, who at the time was a Major, was the Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.
The nickel plated scabbard is also in excellent condition with all of the original plating still completely intact.
This is an absolutely incredible piece of history, perfect for the 82nd Airborne Division collector!
Comes more than ready for further research and display!
General Leahy, who was a native of Owego, N.Y., was a 1940 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. During World War II, he served in the 82nd Airborne (All American) Division. Joining it when the former infantry division was redesignated an airborne unit in August 1942, he served with it throughout the war. Along the way, the division took part in some of the heaviest and most successful Army engagements of World War II. He served on the division staff during fighting in North Africa and during jumps into Sicily and onto the beachhead at Salerno, Italy. When the 82nd jumped into Normandy as a spearhead of the D-day landings, he commanded a battalion. He also was a battalion commander when the division dropped at Nijmegen, the Netherlands, as part of a joint U.S.-British airborne operation. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1944 and ended the war as a regimental executive officer in Germany. After the war, he graduated from the Army War College and commanded an 82nd Airborne Division parachute infantry regiment. He was chief of a joint training mission in Saudi Arabia and chief of staff of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg in the 1960s. Later posts included command of the 7th Infantry Division in South Korea and the post of deputy commander of the Sixth Army at the Presidio in San Francisco. He held staff posts in the Washington area from the early 1970s until retiring from active duty in 1977.
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