Page 26 - American Rifleman (February 2020)

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吀栀攀 圀漀爀氀搀ᤠ猀 READERS WRITE
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䘀椀爀攀愀爀洀 American Luger
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The article on American Eagle
Lugers (November 2019, p. 92), was a
superb nale to the magazine’s pages.

While I understand that space is lim-
ited, I found it odd that one key facet
was omitted from the history lesson on
these pistols: the U.S. Army’s trials of
the M1900 at the turn of the century.
U.S. cavalrymen put these sidearms under scrutiny in theaters across the
globe while considering a replacement for the venerable Single Action Army
revolver. Francis Bannerman VI, of military surplus notoriety, bought approxi-
mately 1,000 of the leftover Lugers at government auction—of which I own
three—after the government’s rejection. Michael Reese II wrote an informative
book on this fascinating foray into nding a new service pistol. Years later, the
iconic M1911 would ultimately ll that role, but the fact that these Lugers in
.30 Luger were considered is of signi cant interest.
MIKE VAHSEN, VIA EMAIL
Brothers In Arms HISTORICAL 100
50
Once again, the NRA has come An American Rifleman
In The Battle For Germany
through for me with your article
on Buck Marsh, “An American

Ri eman In The Battle For Germany”
(December 2019, p. 48). Mr. Marsh
and my father, Merton “Babe” An infantryman with the 3rd Armored Division
gures prominently in the bestselling book
Spearhead. Now 95 years old, Buck Marsh
Furhman, were both replacement relates some of his combat experiences as a
ri eman armed with the M1 Garand from
three-quarters of a century ago.
troops in 1945 in the 36th Armored While this illustration depicts Buck Marsh as a 19-year-old ri e-
BY HAYDEN FOSTER
man in Germany, we had the opportunity to meet now 95-year
Marsh and his friend Clarence Smoyer this year. Read about these
two World War II heroes at americanri eman.org/buckmarsh.
Infantry Division of the 3rd Armored 48 DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN Illustration by Gareth Hector, AMERICANRIFLEMAN.ORG DECEMBER 2019 49
courtesy valorstudios.com
Division. My dad was in Company B; Mr. Marsh was in Company A. Both were
the same age, and both were decorated Purple Heart combatants. My father
died more than 30 years ago, and I plan to reach out to Mr. Marsh in the hope
they might have crossed paths. Thank you so much for this article.
HERBERT FURHMAN, VIA EMAIL
More Shared Experiences
I really enjoyed reading Hayden Foster’s article about Buck Marsh. I had
the honor of hearing Mr. Marsh speak during his book tour with Adam Makos
after Spearhead came out. I had both of them autograph my copy of the
fascinating book.
I well remember one point mentioned by Buck. As you wrote, he attended
Auburn after the war with Eugene Sledge, well-known author of With The Old
Breed, about Sledge’s horri c experiences on Peleliu and Okinawa. Buck said
that having another combat veteran to talk with helped him avoid what we
now know as PTSD. It’s well-known that Sledge did not avoid it, and appar-
ently Clarence Smoyer didn’t either. Mr. Makos told us that Smoyer had
never spoken much about the war until contacted by him for the book. The
emotionally healing reunion in Cologne with a German veteran of the battle
is recounted in Spearhead.
BILL BROCKMAN, GEORGIA
䄀洀攀爀椀挀愀渀刀椀˻攀洀愀渀⸀漀爀最 “Readers Write” affords members an opportunity to comment on material published in
American Ri eman. Single-topic letters are preferred and may be edited for brevity. Send letters to:

Readers Write, NRA Publications, 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030-9400 or email us at
publications@nrahq.org.
24 FEBRUARY 2020 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN