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COLUMNS NOVEMBER 2010
     
     
HANDGUNS
Massad Ayoob

 

A Handgun For A Solider
This Particular 1911 Represented More Than A Rite
Of Passage For One Young Soldier

 
             
   
  The Kimber Custom Shop .45 presented to Justin Schortmann by his wife Anna. Details include rosewood Micarta stocks, flared mag well, beavertail grip safety, ambi safety and fixed night sights. On this personalized Kimber Gold Combat Stainless II (inset), the “II” designation indicates internal firing pin safety, rendering the Kimber drop-safe in the most hostile environments. One-off name engraving is one of the few things not available through Custom Shop.  
                     
 

Handguns have always been woven into the fabric of American military history. George Washington’s flintlock pistols; the cap-and-ball revolvers that made cavalry so effective during the War Between the States; and the pistol or revolver Gen. Pershing wanted in WWI on the hip of every doughboy in the trenches. Personal handguns were also prized in WWII, most famously the ivory-handled Colt Single Action Army .45 and Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum of Gen. George Patton. In Korea, and later in Vietnam, the most cherished possession of many soldiers was a sidearm often sent from home: then-new stainless steel S&W .38s were as much appreciated in the humid delta as among stateside cops.

Today, our armed forces are deeply embroiled in a 2-theater war, and judging by photos from the fronts, Beretta M9 pistols are being very widely issued to supplement the M4 carbine. Constant house-clearing in one theater and cave-searching in the other has led to them being used more heavily than in most other 20th Century conflicts, according to anecdotal reports.

This is the story of one newly-minted Army officer, and the handgun given to him by the woman who loves him.

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This column is sponsored by:

Benelli
www.benelliusa.com
     


         
   
       
                         
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