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Devil Dog, Kurt, Chuck in Denver. I wish to thank all of you for the information you have so freely imparted. I use to come to this forum a lot when I was getting into Springfields and Garands. I even bought some books off of some members who authored books on the 1903 Springfield, Rock Island Arsenal, M-1 Garand that were members of this forum. I mention this because you gentlemen remind me of those times when the only stupid question was the one that wasn't asked. My internet research indeed confirmed the information that you men so generously contributed to this thread. I wish to publicly thank you. Opinions seem to trump Experiential Knowledge these days and that's unfortunate-unfortunate to those who wish to make a temple out of their own misconceptions and cast aside any open mindedness. I was motivated to buy this rifle because I had an Uncle who was shot and gassed during the battle of Belleau Woods and listed as KIA at age 18. He was found later barely alive and lived till 1955. My mother remembered the grief stricken screams of her mother upon learning the news. My mother being born in 1912 wasn't aware that she would have her own isolated moments of pitch black solitary fears and concerns during WWII with my father and her younger brother than later with myself,her son, in 68-69. America was indeed the greatest country on the face of the earth. This model rifle was carried by men who largely knew nothing about being a "professional solider" against an enemy that thrived on military ethos and professional soldiering. These Common Men, these We the People often looked down upon by the former foreign military elite of that time became an army that was in many ways the last army the allies could field.The professional armies having been decimated by their professional solider tactics. This, to me, is a rifle from a time when to be an American was to have overcome the impossible and make it possible. When people were Americans of Italian descent or as I am an American of Irish descent. Whatever descent being an American was always first. Thank you again gentleman. The information you've given me will make this rifle even more meaningful,it will bring an Uncle I never knew who went off as a kid, fought for his country, came back, went through a depression, and became a Battalion Fire Chief in the NYC Fire Department and died a free man, an American.
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