the M14

Here's the story behind the M14.

The beginning - When I arrived in country the OIC for the Information Office was a mustang Captain who only had one week left in country. He sat in his office and NEVER came out except to use the potty and eat and sleep. So for the first week or two I had a M16 like everyone else.

Except I never took it anywhere. It was locked up in the photo-lab. Carrying the rifle and using a camera at the same time wasn't something I wanted to be bothered with. I always had a reporter with me who carried a rifle (Like me probably couldn't hit a barn door even if he was leaning againt it!)

When the new OIC for the Information Office arrived (another Captain, but very young and with a college degree in ENGLISH) he asked us photographer types what he could do for us. Me being a big mouth I said he should get us 45s. He did. So for the rest of my tour in Vietnam (5 months and 2 days total) I had a 45 at the hip.

And this brings us to the M14. Because it was impactical to have a 45 as your only weapon while on guard duty (Since you HAD to be leaning againt the barn door in order to hit it with a 45!) I was issued a M14 every evening and returned it to the Armory in the morning.

Why a M14 and not the M16 I have no idea. The Marines had already gone over to the M16 by then so it's a mystery to me. See PS below.

I was also lucky in that I only had guard duty for about 2 weeks. I think they went to a more permanent situation once the detachments were moved into the new buildings.

PS: In May 68 when I got orders overseas I was at Cherry Point, NC and I had a M14 that was kept in my wall locker. Because of the chaos derived from Vietnam I only had to use it once and that was for the rifle range. I never stood any kind of inspection with the rifle.

So when I went to turn the rifle in I took one look at it and realize it would never stand inspection. It was covered with rust inside and out. I spent several hours cleaning it so it could pass inspection. When I was satisfied with it I went over to the armory to turn it in.

The Marine at the armory looked at the serial number to verify it was the correct one and then THREW it on a massive stack of M14s. The Marine Corps was converting over to M16s and they didn't care what condition it was in. What a waste.

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