About Us

America Remembers®
"Legends Live on at America Remembers Where History and Heroes are Not Forgotten"
 

Welcome to AmericaRemembers.com, an organization dedicated to the remembrance of notable Americans and significant events in American history. America Remembers is always striving to honor and remember significant events in American history and legendary American personalities. We strive to uphold the values of liberty and freedom that have made our nation great.

Here at AmericaRemembers.com, you have access to a collection of unique, collectible, and superbly crafted collector firearms that are intended to capture the essence of our American heritage from the Founding Fathers who established our great country, through the Civil War, Old West, and the tumultuous 20th century and significant events as they unfold now.

In 2005, America Remembers acquired the firearms branch of the American Historical Foundation and combined operations. With an unmatched reputation for excellence, America Remembers and the American Historical Foundation have worked closely with legendary American heroes and personalities, museums and other organizations to issue unique and handsomely designed collector firearms. For the discriminating collector, particularly notable issues are those that honor heroic and legendary Americans, both past and present, such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Audie Murphy, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Chuck Yeager, Gene Autry, Elvis Presley, James Arness, J. Edgar Hoover, Chuck Norris, George Jones, and Marty Stuart.

America Remembers’ editions offer collectors a wide range of categories:

-Legendary Hollywood Cowboy heroes such as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Clint Walker, James Arness, Richard Boone, Clayton Moore, and Audie Murphy.

-Modern military leaders and heroes including General George S. Patton, Jr., Chuck Yeager, Tex Hill, Omar Bradley and Audie Murphy.

- Civil War leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and many more.

-Old West legends like Buffalo Bill, Billy the Kid, Geronimo, Texas Jack Omohundro, Frederic Remington, General George S. Custer, Jesse James, Doc Holliday & Kate Haroney, Pat Garrett, Wyatt Earp, Quanah Parker, and Sitting Bull.

-Distinguished American Museums and Associations including the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Museum, Museum of the Confederacy, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Frederic Remington Museum, Marine Corps Association, National Rifle Association, Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, National Naval Aviation Museum in Petsacola, FL, and the Northfield Historical Society.

-Contemporary legends in music, entertainment, and sports including Hollywood favorites Elvis Presley, Chuck Norris, John Wayne, Edward G. Robinson, and Steve McQueen.

-Country Music legends like George Jones, Conway Twitty, the Charlie Daniels Band, and Marty Stuart.

-Wildlife Conservative Organizations including Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Wildlife Forever.

Capturing the highlights of history on a steel canvas, each edition issued by America Remembers is produced with the utmost attention to detail. To ensure your place in an elite rank of collectors, each issue from America Remembers is produced in a strictly limited edition. Each Tribute is individually numbered and your individual edition number is recorded on a Certificate of Authenticity.

Celebrating historical personages or events with specially decorated objects has a long tradition in the world of arms and armor. Magnificent firearms, swords and suits of armor have been created to commemorate coronations, meetings of heads of state and even weddings, as evidenced by examples in museums and private collections around the world. Among the finest productions of the Colt armory were deluxe percussion and cartridge revolvers commemorating major exhibitions or fairs such as the Paris Exposition of 1867 and the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. Both Smith & Wesson and Tiffany & Co. created spectacular revolvers in celebration of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Fine guns by Winchester, Sharps and Remington are among other such superior, 19th century American pieces made long before the modern series of commemorative arms first appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

That celebratory-commemorative tradition continues today in firearms issued by individual gunmakers and in guns, swords and knives by specialty firms such as America Remembers, of Ashland, Va. With an eye toward the future and a keen admiration of the past, America Remembers, and its allied United States Society of Arms and Armour, is a non-governmental organization dedicated to honoring notable Americans and events in our history. Its sole endeavor is creating and marketing "premium three-dimensional collectibles, such as special issue firearms, edged weapons, sculpture, porcelain and more."

Often these specially designed and manufactured issues are directly associated with legendary American heroes and personalities and their descendants, as well as with museums and other institutions. Each collectable is carefully designed to express the significance and tradition of the person or theme being honored-and issues are customarily produced only in strictly limited editions.

Purchasers of these prized pieces range from individuals who are supportive of the museums, societies, historic sites, individuals or institutions being honored to collectors from all levels of dedication and refinement. Collectors of America Remembers pieces include: singer/songwriter Travis Tritt, automobile and gun writer/photographer Dennis Adler, actor Bruce Boxleitner, and renowned Colt specialist Dr. Joseph A. Murphy. Examples of America Remembers issues were specifically pictured in the author's Fine Colts: The Dr. Joseph A. Murphy Collection, and an eight-page color section of The Colt Engraving Book (Volume II) featured some of the more prominent of America Remembers' Colt revolver issues. Other fine guns and edged weapons of this genre appear in the pages of Steel Canvas: The Art of American Arms. That book was dedicated to the NRA and to The NRA Foundation, as well as to yet another distinguished collector of special issues and other fine guns, Robert M. Lee.
 

America's rich tradition of country and Western entertainment is the focus of the collage at right with (clockwise from top l.): George Jones Tribute Winchester Model 94, George Jones Tribute Single Action Army, Elvis and Graceland Tribute Model 94 rifle, Elvis Presley Tribute Government Model pistol, Travis Tritt Tribute Winchester 94, Travis Tritt Single Action Army, and Elvis Presley Western Tribute. Decorative devices are in celebration of each theme.

Establishing America Remembers

The predecessor to America Remembers was the U.S. Historical Society, which was created early in the celebrations planned to honor the U.S. Bicentennial. The society was founded by Robert H. Kline whose concept was to honor the rich heritage of the American Revolution with special commemoratives. Soon it recognized the unique role of firearms in America's past and developed a series of historic issues. Among the first of those was a pair of flintlock pistols duplicating the silver-mounted flintlocks of George Washington, displayed in the West point Museum. That set was soon followed by the cased pair of Hamilton-Burr dueling pistols, licensed by Chase Manhattan Bank, owners of the original set of Wogdens used in that historic confrontation.

In 1994, Paul Warden, president of the U.S. Historical Society for more than 15 years, acquired the Firearms Division and established America Remembers. He immediately carried over the society's Antique Arms Committee, a carefully selected panel of experts, to assist the staff in planning and design. The group had served the society for many years and was originally headed by the late author and collector Merrill K. Lindsay. Among previously appointed advisor-members were the late performing artist Mel Tormé and then Audubon magazine editor and active conservationist Les Line. Others included writer, editor and collector Michael V. Korda, and the author.

Licensing Agreements And Historic Pedigrees

The majority of U.S. Historical Society and America Remembers pieces are made under licensing agreements with organizations such as Interpol, the Royal Armouries/H.M. Tower of London, the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Frederic Remington Art Museum and others.

Since issues are frequently tied in to historic dates, careful planning precedes each commemorative. The make and model of firearm appropriate for an issue is selected, designs for the embellishments and inscriptions and sometimes even specific ranges of serial numbers are created and refined, a marketing plan perfected, and final approval given by the licensor. In some cases plans may require years before all details have been agreed upon.

Limited Editions Generate Publicity

Particularly notable issues are those that honor heroic figures--some of them still well and active, such as Johnny Cash, Richard Petty, Nolan Ryan, Travis Tritt, Chuck Yeager, George Jones and James Arness--and others no longer living such as William B. Ruger, Sr., Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Geronimo, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Clayton Moore, Audie Murphy and Babe Ruth. Furthering the cause of preserving wilderness sites and the conservation of species, issues have been made in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited and the Mule Deer Foundation.

America Remembers is careful to restrict production of each issue so that numbers rarely exceed 500 and sometimes are limited to 300. A few issues have been even more restricted, such as the Interpol hand-engraved Single Action Army based on the original by R.J. Kornbrath. Only 154 were built. The fact that each issue is in new or "mint" condition is yet another aspect of their appeal. A common dictum among aficionados is that the three things to look for in a collectible firearm are "condition, condition and condition."

Yet another aspect of America Remembers issues is the desirability of such pieces for special presentations. That tradition was established early by Chase Manhattan Bank, since executives began using the Hamilton-Burr duelers for presentations to visiting VIPs. David Rockefeller, then chairman, began the practice of gifting cased sets to cement friendships and associations, a practice continuing to this day. When cartoonist and arms and armor enthusiast Charles Addams assisted in the issue of the Merrill Lindsay Commemorative Transition Dragoon, he became the delighted recipient of an inscribed example of the revolver, now a treasured artifact in the collection of his heirs.

New Projects

Pieces in the developmental stages include: The John Wayne Coach Gun, authorized by the family's Wayne Enterprises and based on the legendary double barrel stagecoach shotgun, a 12-ga. side-by-side with 18 1/2" barrels. The General George S. Patton, Jr. Tributes are planned on a Colt Cowboy Single Action Army .45 and a Government Model .45 ACP pistol--the general was a dedicated marksman and firearm enthusiast. A salute to the late actor and stuntman Richard Farnsworth will be on a Model 94 Winchester. For the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, a Colt Cowboy Single Action Army joins previous issues of a Dragoon, a Walker and and Winchester Model 94 rifle. Honoring cowboy hero Roy Rogers is a Colt Cowboy Single Action, known as the Happy Trails Tribute. A tribute to the "Lone Ranger" actor Clayton Moore will be a Winchester Model 94 decorated in nickel-plating, just like his Colt Single Actions.
 

Above (starting at top l.) are the Sitting Bull Tribute Single Action Army revolver and (from top) three Model 94 Winchesters: Iron Eyes Cody, C.M. Russell and Cherokee Trail of Tears. A Model 1866, the American Buffalo Tribute, and the Quanah Parker Red River War Henry Rifle Tribute are also shown.

A Labor of Caring and Preservation

Reflecting on the care devoted by America Remembers to each issue, historical adviser Jeffrey Belcher said, "Over the past 20 years, I have had the opportunity to work with many famous people, including armed service heroes and renowned actors, and their families. It has been both exciting and gratifying to play a role in America Remembers' efforts to forever preserve our country's rich heritage, and to honor veterans who have given life and limb in defense of freedom.

Increasingly it is evident that America's educational system has new allies in recognizing and honoring American history. The world of re-enactments is crucial in that venue with its frequent live and televised celebrations of "living history." But the universe of collecting is equally compelling--in the pursuit of antique arms and relics, and in the creation of new collectibles, creatively designed and finely produced, to honor, commemorate and perpetuate.

Paul Warden himself looks forward to each and every day in his position as president: "I cannot put into words the immense pleasure, pride and gratification we realize not only from creating our projects, but from working with so many wonderful collectors, individuals and museums around the country. With the recent revival, indeed flourishing, of patriotism in America, we find now to be an especially exciting and challenging period to celebrate the unique role of our country in the history of the civilized world."
 

Government Model automatics (l., clockwise from 12 o'clock) honor the following themes: VFW-Korean War, Pearl Harbor, American Eagle, Army Air Corps, West Point World War II, Elvis Presley, Spirit of America, Leatherneck, West Point, VFW 20th Century salute to the Military and Berlin Airlift Tribute. At centre is the Special Operations Ass'n. Note the variety of grips,, finishes, engraved decorations and styles of embellishment.

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