American Gun: A History of the U.S. In Ten Firearms by Kyle Chris & Doyle William

Author:Kyle, Chris & Doyle, William [Kyle, Chris & Doyle, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Non-Fiction, War
ISBN: 9780062242730
Google: pro2RUGYDUUC
Amazon: 0062242733
Barnesnoble: 0062242733
Goodreads: 16065679
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 2013-06-04T07:00:00+00:00

The M1911 first saw combat in 1916 when General Pershing drove into Mexico in a fruitless search for rebel leader Pancho Villa, whose troops had looted and burned the town of Columbus, New Mexico.

In World War I, the sidearm was used by many American troops in close-quarter battles in the trenches, forests, and fields of Western Europe. “The bottom line was that when Americans shot Germans with Colt .45 automatics, the Germans tended to fall down and die,” wrote historian Massad Ayoob. “When Germans shot Americans with their 9mm Luger pistols, the Americans tended to become indignant and kill the German who shot them, and then walk to an aid station to either die a lingering death or recover completely. Thus was born the reputation of the .45 automatic as a ‘legendary man-stopper,’ and the long-standing American conviction that the 9mm automatic was an impotent wimp thing that would make your wife a widow if you trusted your life to it.”

The M1911 gained more hard-core battle experience in the hands of Marines and bluejacket sailors fighting in Latin America and the Caribbean during the “Banana Wars.” In Haiti in 1919, guided by a turncoat Haitian general, a Marine sergeant named Herman Hanneken used a disguise to sneak into the lair of rebel chieftain Charlemagne Péralte. Hanneken gunned him down with a M1911 Colt .45 in front of hundreds of Péralte’s followers. In the chaotic gunfight that followed, the tough Marine somehow managed to escape with his life. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

A few months later, a team of Marines snuck through the Haitian jungle to the headquarters of Benoît Batraville. Batraville had taken over after Charlemagne Péralte’s death. The Marines were out for some payback for their fallen comrade Lieutenant Lawrence Muth, who had been killed and cannibalized by Batraville’s gang. (The bandits cut out the Marine’s heart and smeared his blood on their rifles to improve their marksmanship.)

Gunnery Sergeant Albert A. Taubert approached the entrance of the bandit’s cave, clutching an M1911. Taubert, a highly decorated World War I veteran, spotted Batraville. As the Haitian opened fire with a .38 revolver, the Marine calmly shot and killed him. The 1919–20 Second Caco War ended soon afterwards.

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