Quote by C.J. Chivers

“For a nation that struggled to manufacture decent elevators and shoes, in a system in which wool shirts were not necessarily wool, approval of a Soviet weapon served as a refreshing endorsement of an industrial base often making shoddy goods.” quote by C.J. Chivers — Download Open image

““For a nation that struggled to manufacture decent elevators and shoes, in a system in which wool shirts were not necessarily wool, approval of a Soviet weapon served as a refreshing endorsement of an industrial base often making shoddy goods.””

C.J. Chivers

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“The sentence was death. His appeal was rejected. At 7:18 A.M on April 9, 1959, József Tibor Fejes was hanged. He was suspended on…

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“It is said that when men have made up their mind to die they act and speak like gods.”

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“the Russian assault rifle would see its first combat use—both by conventional forces and by insurgents. The United States military, all the while, would misjudge the meaning and significance of the AK-47’s arrival. Beyond dismissing the value of the socialists’ main firearm with parochial superiority, it would develop weapons for its own forces that would fail when it mattered most,…

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“McNamara’s Pentagon was right on one point. The M-14 was not the best all-purpose rifle for what war had become, especially in a tropical delta or jungle. To compete against guerrillas armed with Kalashnikovs, the United States needed more firepower than the M-14 provided, and in a lighter rifle. It needed, in short, more lethality per pound, more ability to…

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“In sum, the United States had armed its foes, indirectly but surely. The war echoed edicts of Mao: “Guerrillas must not depend too much…

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“The rules of war established by pen soldiers do not form the basis of actual operations in the field,” he wrote.”

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“If a rifle could not be trusted, its other characteristics were moot. Being a bayonet holder was not enough.”

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“enough weapons had been shown to enough military officers, and distributed to enough armies and navies, that given time even the most stupid of…

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“Within a very few years the Kalashnikov’s attributes—its mechanical characteristics combined with its unprecedented availability—transformed Stalin’s rifle, conceived as a tool of the state,…

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“The M-16 sure is a marvelous gun, and in a god-awful war it provides some keen fun. The bullet it fires appears too small to harm but it makes a big hole and can tear off an arm. Single shot, semi, or full automatic, a real awesome weapon, ’tho in performance sporadic. But listen to Ichord and forget that stuck…

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