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LOT 1283
Historic Presentation Gold Damascened Colt Government Model Semi-
Automatic Pistol Inscribed to Legendary Associated Press Foreign Correspondent
Major Harold K. Milks with Colt .22 Conversion Unit Slide - Serial no. 261363-C, 22 LR
cal., 5 inch round bbl., matte blue/gold finish, German silver grips. The frame of this incredibly
ornate piece was manufactured in 1953, before being subsequently fitted with a Colt .22 conversion unit barrel and
slide, as well as being masterfully embellished. The top of the slide on this example is gold inlaid with the inscription
“Major/Harold K. Milks/AO-361665” for the legendary Associated Press reporter and foreign correspondent Harold Milks
(1908-1979). Milks began his career in journalism at two newspapers in his home state of Indiana, before joining the
Associated Press in Chicago at the height of the organized crime era which defined the 1930s. From there, he moved on to
Columbus, Ohio and New York before receiving his first foreign assignment in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1938. During World
War II, Milks served in the Army Air Corps, serving 47 months on active duty and being discharged at the rank of major.
Beginning in 1946, Milks began covering General Marshall’s peace mission to China, including meeting the communist leader
Mao Tse-tung, before eventually fleeing China with the fall of the Nationalist government. He was then briefly a correspondent
in London before moving on to covering South Asia, where he was headquartered in New Delhi.
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