American Rifle - Alexander Rose [167]
In actuality the Garand performed far better in the field than might have been expected from its test results. In late February 1942 General MacArthur told the press that during the fighting on the Bataan Peninsula the Garand developed no mechanical defects and did not jam up with dust and dirt, adding that in some cases it had been used almost constantly for up to a week without cleaning or lubrication.88 Referring to the 1944 Normandy landings, Brigadier General Sidney Hinds would later point out that “most men who stopped, or were stopped, on the beach, probably became casualties themselves before the Garand was stopped by sand.”89
Though in 1941 the Marines had finally signed on to issuing the Garand (mostly owing to the need to standardize weapons across services), owing to holdouts M1s remained relatively few in the Corps—despite a gracious article in the Marine Corps Gazette by the bested Melvin Johnson praising the Garand’s rapid-fire ability and accuracy.90 Sometime in early 1942 Brigadier General William Rupertus, commanding general of the Marine Corps base at San Diego, had a talk with his public relations officer, Captain Robert White. Rupertus was worried that the new men streaming into the Corps after Pearl Harbor did not understand “that the only weapon which stands between them and Death is the rifle.” With the outbreak of war, the Corps had expanded from 18,000 to 25,000, and in order to train them all, the recruit syllabus was halved to just four weeks. Rifle qualification rates accordingly plummeted, as did training standards. The syllabus was soon returned to its previous status, but Rupertus insisted that recruits must have it hammered into them that “their rifle is their life . . . it must become a creed with them.” The general scribbled down some lines on a “random scrap of paper” and handed it to White the next day. White typed it out, added a line or two here and there, and suggested a few word changes. The result, called “My Rifle” (sometimes known as the “Rifleman’s Creed”), was first published in the San Diego Marine Corps Chevron on March 14, 1942:
1. This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
2. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
3. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will . . .
4. My rifle and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit . . .
5. My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my rifle clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will . . .
6. Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
7. So be it, until victory is America’s and there is no enemy, but peace!!91
Still taught to recruits, the Creed has seeped into popular culture partly by dint of the films Full Metal Jacket and Jarhead, in which actors recite shortened versions of it. By identifying a man’s rifle as “human,” his constant companion, his own brother—indeed, his very savior—Rupertus’s words struck a deep bass chord within the American soul with its mystical, collective memory of The Rifleman and his historical contribution to Liberty. On a less abstract note, the Creed’s appearance coincides with the not overly popular decision by the Corps to adopt the Garand over the hallowed Springfield. Rupertus, who must have been present at the San Diego competition, thought it crucial to convince Marines new and old that the Garand was the official