My stepdad has a really cool pistol as well.
My grandfather was a tanker in WWII. He was part of the 752nd Armored who were a training unit sent to North Africa to defeat Rommel and then train incoming new tankers for the push up into Europe through Italy.
If I recall correctly. My WWII history is not very thorough and I only know what my dad has told me about grandpa's service.
Supposedly, grandpa's unit got tasked with pushing up through Italy where they attained the Army's record for greatest number of days in continuous combat conditions. 315, IIRC.
While stuck inside a tank for nearly a year, grandpa fashioned a set of grips for his issued sidearm, a S&W M1917 in .45 ACP. The grips were carved from the plexiglass windscreen of a downed German plane.
One side of the grips features an image of an American flag and some fancy gold-leaf. On the other side is a picture of his dog that he left back home and his favorite hunting spot in Southern Idaho.
The grips are called "sweetheart" grips because most of them had pictures of the soldier's girlfriend behind them.
If you've seen the movie "Fury" with Brad Pitt, then you've seen a copy of grandpa's gun.
From the movie...