Dad had three weapons that he carried. The
first two were issued to him. They were the Model
1911 Colt 45 semi auto pistol and the M1
Carbine. He was also given a 38 revolver by a Navy pilot (for
what reason, I've never found out). He carried the 45 on his hip,
the 38 in a shoulder holster and the Carbine was strapped inside his
jeep.
According to him, the only times he ever used any
of them was when they had to "bug-out". One of the stories I
remember
him telling was that one time he had 50 gal. drums of gasoline piled up
and they had to be destroyed. He took out his 45 and fired 3 or 4
shots at them. The bullets bounced off! Big surprise!
So he went and got the M1 Carbine from his jeep and with just a couple
of shots the drums were exploding and burning.
He never had to use his side arms to defend himself
or shot in anger. Although, if I remember the story correctly,
they
were harassed on numerous occasions by Japanese fighters who would
strafe
the field and drop any unused ordinance on their way home. Their
distractions would interrupt important things like dinner. On a
few
occasions Dad and one or two other guys would jump into the jeep and
head
for the cemetery on the hill where they had a trench with a 50 Cal. set
up. They would fire at the planes but never seemed to be able to
hit them.
Dad always regretted not bring his weapons
home.
As the story goes, when the Liberty ship was getting close to Seattle
everyone
was instructed to throw their weapons over board. My Dad followed
orders. When he disembarked he noticed that most of the other
guys
had kept their weapons and no one was stopping them from taking them
home.
