For the 1911 fan boys

[baldeagle]

This is a story about some amazing shooting in Vietnam. You'll want to read it, trust me, but here's a summary. A SEAL team returning from a mission had their helo shot down. The pilot and a crew member were killed. The co-pilot was wounded but managed to down the chopper without killing the rest of the people on board. The M60's were damaged by the crash landing and unusable. The only M16 they had fell out of the chopper on the way down. They were left with M1911's, the old reliable service pistol, and they were surrounded and outnumbered by VC.

The remaining crew member, Petty Officer R.J. Thomas, was a member of the US Navy Rifle and Pistol team. He had in his possession a match conditioned M1911 and some boxes of ammo. 30 minutes and 80 rounds later, there were 37 dead VC laying around, from 3 to 150 yards from the chopper. The co-pilot kept himself busy radioing for help while reloading empty magazines.

[flechero]

With any weapon that should be a medal of honor story... with handgun, that is absolutely incredible. He should have been awarded the CMH

[Heartland Patriot]

While I don't consider myself to be a 1911 "fanboy", I always acknowledge the 1911 as one of the top firearms designs ever. That was an incredible story and that Navy Cross was more than earned.