Iwo Jima Commemoriative M1 display

The newest exhibit at the Franklin Sousley Museum at Camp Sousley is a Springfield Armory Iwo Jima Commemorative M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle with Box, Case, and Accessories.

This rifle was built on a Springfield Armory commercial M1 Garand receiver. It has standard receiver markings and features. It also has a portrait of Fleming County’s own, Franklin Sousley and his fellow Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima etched into the butt.

The M1 Garand is a .30 caliber semi-automatic rifle that was the standard U.S. service rifle during World War II and the Korean War and also saw limited service during the Vietnam War. Most M1 rifles were issued to U.S. forces, though many hundreds of thousands were also provided as foreign aid to American allies.

The M1 Garand was made in large numbers during World War II, approximately 5.4 million were made. They were used by every branch of the United States military. By all accounts the M1 rifle served with distinction. General George S. Patton called it “the greatest implement of battle ever devised.” The impact of faster-firing infantry small arms in general soon stimulated both Allied and Axis forces to greatly increase their issue of semi- and fully automatic firearms then in production, as well as to develop new types of infantry firearms.

The Springfield Armory Iwo Jima Commemorative M1 Garand is on loan to the museum by a local collector with the assistance of Bud’s Gun Shop in Lexington.

Everyone is invited to come see the Garand and the other exhibits at the Franklin Sousley Museum at Camp Sousley.