A tribute to the M1 Garand and the men who carried it in World War II

Dear Sir:

I applaud you for your website. Most people, both young and many old, have no conception of the sacrifices made 60 years ago. It's too easy to forget and overlook today. Thus the reason I am writing. I thought that you, more so than most, would appreciate what I am about to share with you.

As the years go on I see fewer and fewer references to the North African campaign, the first "D-Days", the Italian campaign and to the young men who fought and died there. Today, it is widely believed and accepted by the average Joe that the European "war" began for US troops on June 6, 1944, when it began much earlier. For my Dad the war began almost a year earlier in July 1943.

The untried, untested men who landed on Sicily, who, then as veterans, landed on the beaches of Salerno, who fought for their lives at the "Factory" on Anzio through attack after attack by German forces trying to hurl them back to the sea, who then landed in the south of France after all of the above, will tell you (the few of them left) that there was quite a war going on a long time before "D-Day."

My Dad took part in four combat amphibious landings and had 4 D-Days, three of which took place before June 6, 1944. He had 4 arrowheads on his ribbons and was credited with 8 different campaigns. As an infantry scout with the Intelligence & Recon team (I&R), HQ Co, 179th Regimental Combat Team, 45th Infantry Division, he was wounded five times, watched as his best friend blown up by a German mine, contracted malaria which never left him, was held prisoner by SS combat troops for a few days and earned some medals. He was prouder of his Combat Infantryman's Badge than anything else.

He was in the thick of war from July 1943 through early April 1945 when he finally sustained the wounds that took him out of the war just outside Nuremberg, Germany. His unit (and I believe the 36th Infantry) held the dubious distinction of having more front line combat days without adequate rotation, than any other US fighting troops of W.W.II. After the war, the Army conducted psychological studies on how this could affect a young man and decided it wouldn't be allowed to ever happen again.

As a western Pennsylvania farm boy, guns and shooting well were second nature to my Dad and he continued a long family history of service to his country under fire. He had had ancestors in the Pennsylvania militia during the War for Independence and his great grandfather took part in many Civil War battles including Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before his capture at the Wilderness and subsequent internment at Andersonville until the end of that conflict.

Dad was an expert shot. He was so good that in 1942-43, while in training at the various military facilities that the 45th was moved around to (the 45th, may have been the "best trained" unit of the war, being one of the first) dad's prowess with a rifle were noted by the brass. He was subsequently offered extra ammunition to practice on Saturdays and he would walk the miles to the range. Soon, he was provided rides and later was given his own Jeep for his Saturday trips. The reason for this special treatment was that the brass made wagers pitting the skills of one unit's best shot against another's.

He trained with the 1903 Springfield and carried this rifle into combat in Italy. Somewhere along the line, a scoped '03 replaced his standard issue and because of his skill, Dad became a "sniper" for his scout unit. I don't know if his scoped rifle was actually a 1903A4, or if a civilian scope was mounted on a standard '03 rifle. He said it was deadly accurate. As the war progressed, he told me that he learned it was prudent to go with more firepower and he traded in his '03 for a BAR which he carried to the conclusion of "his" war. Others in his unit, especially replacements as the war progressed, were issued the mighty M1 Garrand.

Dad never told me much about the war until ten years ago when as he reached his 70s, he began to open up and share some things with me. I'm sure he did it only to hand down his history for my benefit. He didn't do it for himself. Mom says that for years after they met and married soon after the war was over, it was not uncommon for Dad to have violent nightmares in which he would sometimes assume the role of the combat infantryman he had been. She said that once early in their marriage, she woke up with one hand around her neck and the other up in the air ready to strike, as Dad was still locked in the memory of something that happened 7-8 years earlier.

Before I was aware of his early nightmares, I once told my Mom to have Dad watch a documentary heavy with Salerno and Anzio combat footage. He had to leave the room and had nightmares for a period afterward. I think it was the unceasing incoming artillery rounds from the German 88s during some of those battles which scared him the most. He couldn't hide from an incoming shell and running away impossible and unthinkable. (When the movie "The Execution of Private Slovik" aired on TV 20-30 years ago, Dad thought that the guy had it coming. He also mentioned in passing once that Patton had every right to slap that yellow SOB in the field hospital in Italy.) Amazingly, he must have had rock-solid emotional control because he hid his fears from me for 40 years. He opened up a little just a couple of years ago when he told me: (to paraphrase) "Anyone who says they were in combat with hundreds of artillery rounds dropping in on them day after day and claims they never crapped themselves is a liar"

Dad died in November 2001, just weeks before I was going to start videotaping his life's recollections, so I waited too long and have none of his history on tape. I did visit the 45th Infantry Division museum in 1994 and bought him a copy of the 179th RCT history, written by the unit historian during the war (when facts were facts) and published in 1946. To please me Dad read it and made handwritten firsthand observations on his personal involvement on various pages. He told me that the regimental history was right-on accurate and not the revisionist history you read too often today. Having passed on his written comments to me, he returned the unit history to me with a short letter saying that it had been rough reliving it and that he doubted he ever look at it again.

Well, that's about it. There was quite a war going on prior to June 6, 1944. At least that was Dad's opinion. I realize that you know that but so many people don't. The boys who fought before what is now referred to simply as "D-Day", sacrificed their lives and their youth in occupying the Axis' western front concerns while this country prepared for the invasion of northern Europe. I hope that we as a country never forget the brave young fellows who's D-Days occurred before, on and after June 6, 1944.

Thanks for your hard work in composing and providing your website to all of us. Lest we forget history and are condemned to repeat it. "In omnia paratus." "In all things prepared", motto of the 179th Regimental Combat Team (179th Infantry Regiment), 45th Infantry Division.

Sincerely,

Dale
Munroe Falls, OH

Read more thoughts on the M1 Garand from visitors: Page: 1 2

I would really appreciate your thoughts, comments and questions regarding the M1 Garand, your heroes, World War II, the Korean War, or anything else this page encompasses.

Please email comments to S.Foster@us.army.mil

Thank you.

Sergeant Foster