I wondered if anyone reading my thread noticed the following details- bearing in mind I enlisted in the USMC in 1960 and served until 1972 active duty- (1) Haircuts- both in Basic and in Combat- facial or head hair is "verbotten"-- (2) training Company on Parade ground in prone position with Garand rifles and closed bolts- NOT on the rifle range- why so? (3) The 20 mile forced march with full pack and rifle- But the Sgt. 3 stripes, and the Cpl. 2 stripes- were in their Class A uniforms with dress shoes. When our DI's and the Platoon Cmdr- Gunnery Sgt. Dunning- hiked our asses around Diego MCRD, we are were wearing utilities and bookdockers- no exceptions (4) Reference to the Garand rifle at Ft. Jackson by either senior NCO's or junior grade Offcers as "gun" or "firearm" Nonsense- it is a rifle. The Drill Sgt. did recite the "by the book" field manual nomenclature of the US Rifle Cal. .30 M-1, gas operated, clip fed shoulder weapon- damn fine rifle then and now, IMO.
In the combat theater in the Pacific- Okinawa- ?? how did the rigging get set into position on the sheer wall cliff- and why weren't the Jap snipers locked into that only access to the Ridge. Why the variation in issue weapons in the CO. BAR, M-1 Garands yes, maybe a 1928 A-1 Thompson SMG- but the big tough Drill Sgt. carried a tanker unit issue weapon- M-2 grease gun in .45ACP, and a 1911 .45ACP pistol (as I did for my TO weapon as an armorer)--
I seldom saw a reload scenario- not the expended enbloc clip leaving the open breech of a Garand- and the box magazine for the BAR holds 20 rounds max- I counted way more rounds expended than 20 in the battle scenes- Removing the front Bipod was correct, as also with the BAR shown in "Saving Pvt. Ryan- extra weight and for CQC in an Infantry Co. the extra weight saved could mean a few extra full magazines in the ammo pouch- In a Heavy Weapons Co., along with the 1919 .30 Cal. Browning MG--, then the front bipod might be worthwhile for suppressive fire. Did I also see the MG being fired in a single round mode? Not sure on that-- tricky--
Anyway, just my observations- still a very accurate and moving saga of the brutal war the Japs started against the USA in 1941-and I firmly believe what happened on Okinawa, Tarawa and Iwo Jima would have been repeated if we had tried to invade mainland Japan in 1945, to get them to surrender. Not their Bushido code.
