The Rifle

 Americans have been to war before. They have gone to war with the weapons they had, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld.

And the weapons of war they took were often state of the art. The Brown Bess, Kentucky Long Rifles, the Model 1873 trapdoor Springfield, the M1892 Krag-Jorgensen, the Lee Enfield and Springfield Model 1903 in World War 1, and then the M1 Garand that won World War Two. The Garand was for a short time upgraded into the M14 until the M16 replaced it, followed by its little brother the M4.

But the M1-Garand is iconic of World War Two.

Our guest today wrote a book called The Rifle, inspired in part by his ownership of the M1 Garand, and he has come out with the sequel. The Rifle: Back to the Battlefield.
Given that the anniversaries of both the start and end of World War Two were at the start of this month, each one day apart, I thought it would be good to talk to the author about this part of Your American Heritage.

These are stories of WW2 veterans who have held the M1 Garand.

Enjoy.

Your American Heritage 9 23 2023