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February 2020 G&A 9
READER
BLOWBACK
January 23, 1946: President Harry Truman joined hands with four
servicemen he had decorated with the Medal of Honor including
(left-to-right) then-Sgt. John McKinney, Lt. Daniel Lee, Lt. Donald
Gray and Cdr. Joseph O’Callahan.
AMERICAN PROFICIENCY
PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Private John R. McKinney was a soldier who received the
Medal of Honor during the World War II campaign to
recapture the Philippines from Japanese forces in 1945.
In his single-digit years, he hunted rabbits to feed the
family with a rented, single-shot .22 rifle that was eventually
sold to him. At Luzon, he faced combat for the first
time as his company occupied a spit of land on the coast.
The spit ended with a passage from the sea to the lagoon
on the other side. He woke up in the morning hearing
shooting and seeing a disposal-minded Japanese officer
with a Samurai sword enter his tent. The officer was killed
instead. Pvt. McKinney walked outside the tent with his
rifle and some ammo and started killing the enemy. His
audible signature presented no threat, so he continued to
work and picked up rifles among the dead and wounded
as he did not bring enough ammunition with him. The
Banzai attack was eventually over. It was difficult to say
what Pvt. McKinney had done, but it was estimated that he
dispatched between 50 and 100 of the enemy. He was the
classic firearm-proficient civilian that was thrust into live
fire. He only suffered a cut from the Samurai sword.
Rifle marksmanship is
not a skill; It is a bundle of geek with thick glasses in
separate skills, each one grades seven through 12, I
requiring a separate time to attended my school’s rifle
learn including the mastery club, which was subsidized
of using sights and manipulating
the trigger withship
Program (CMP). I liked
by the Civilian Marksmanout
disturbing the sights. the challenge of making
Proficient people will not small groups of holes on
willingly fire a miss.
paper. I fired a box of
As an underweight, .22 cartridges each week
small, pencil-necked purchased at a subsidized
price. I could afford no
equipment and had none.
I was an extremely slow
learner, but was not discouraged
as others passed
by me in progress. I liked
the process of self-struggle
even though improvement
was glacial. By the age of
15, I would not fire a miss.
Let us consider the
unasked question array:
How many gun owners are
there? How many of those
practice shooting? How
many of those are proficient?
How many of those
that enter the military are
proficient? If guns are gone,
how long will it take for our
nation’s proficiency with
firearms to vanish? How will
this absence of proficiency
affect the military? How
will the lack of proficiency
affect the non-military
population that constitutes
the militia? The interest in
banning black rifles such as
the AR-15, especially the
use among young students
of proficient gun owners,
will end up causing more
casualties when future
generations are called on to
defend this nation.
Darryl Davis
Shoreline, Washington
TERRIFIC
THOMPSON
It all started with your
January 2013 issue of Guns
& Ammo. Inside, I read
Garry James’ feature on the
Auto-Ordnance Thompson
1927-A1 in .45 ACP and
JANUARY ’13
Author Garry James reviewed
the new Auto-Ordnance
Thompson Model and
recounted the history of the
namesake’s original configurations
from the 1920s through
World War II. He concluded
that for those wanting to own
a “Chicago Typewriter” as
close to the real thing without
having to purchase an “original
period piece worth five
figures,” this was it. His conclusion
remains true today.
added it to my collection,
which already contained a
1927-A3 in .22LR. I contacted
Auto-Ordnance to
purchase another drum
mag and was told “lots of
luck” in finding one. The
customer service representative
was able to help me
by selling a .45 ACP mag
with a .22-caliber magazine
inside of it. All I had to do
was to remove the adaptor
used to hold the .22 mag
and slide the .45 in like in a
1927-A1. My regret is that
I only purchased one and
they no longer produce this
item. Still, I would enjoy
more information on my
Auto-Ordnance 1927-A3 in
one of G&A’s issues.
Bob Calgaro
Bridgeville, Pennsylvania