Friday, March 11, 2011

My Father and the Reising Gun

Dad was a Marine on Guadalcanal. It was a transforming event in his life and one filled with many stories. Some of them related to instantaneous death. One of these small stories was about a friend who was walking down the beach talking with two other Marines.

A Japanese sniper was in a plam tree looking for such a target. The sniper killed the man farthest from Dad's friend who was carrying a Reising gun. The sniper swung to the next man in line while the Marine hit the butt of the Reising gun; threw the gun into position and fired. The sniper was dead before he could swing to the remaining man.

The Reising gun had a bad reputation. Troops thought that the magazine you see extending below the gun could be used as a handle. This caused the gun to jam; not a good trait in war.

As you have heard, this gun was more than enough on at least one occasion.
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