Tommel
09-20-11, 05:24
Thought this would be of interest to some:
http://jamesdjulia.com/auctions/div_catalog_308.asp?pageREQ=1
"Mr. Mullen, V.P. of Cooper MacDonald Co. Mr. Mullen stated that SN 106 is the rifle that made two trips around the world for demonstrations to various friendly governments. He stated that on July 4, 1960 this was the rifle that was used in the "Watermelon Demonstration". Mr. Mullen stated that the demonstration took place on Mr. MacDonald's farm which was an annual cookout & beer bust and that prior to the party Mr. MacDonald had told him to "bring the rifle - there will be some brass there". Mr. Mullen stated that the brass turned out to be Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, the Air Force Vice-Chief of Staff. Mr. Mullen stated that a demonstration was organized using four watermelons placed at 50, 75 & 100 yards. Gen. LeMay fired at three of the watermelons which completely destroyed them. When it was pointed out to the General that there was a fourth watermelon remaining and was asked if he wanted to shoot it or eat it. His response was "Let's eat the son of a bitch", which they did. While they were standing in the field eating watermelon Gen. LeMay explained that he had been looking for a rifle weighing less than the M-1 Garand and the Springfield M-14 but one with more punch than the M-1 carbine. Mr. Mullen recalled that Gen. LeMay was happy at the prospect of receiving his order in a timely manner and on the spot placed an order for 8,500 rifles. That demonstration with this rifle is the basis for what was to become one of the most widely disbursed military rifles in history with innumerable knock-offs in semi-auto configuration. Mr. Mullen, upon being asked regarding the legend that this rifle had actually been fired by Pres. John F. Kennedy from the Kennedy family yacht, the Honey Fitz, Mr. Mullen responded that he was unaware of such an occurrence. Mr. Mullen was then asked about the legendary "two around the globe sales trips". Mr. Mullen responded that there were actually more than two, he said that they were constantly traveling. Mr. Mullen related that "serious consideration was given by several countries, including the Philippines, India, Cambodia and South Viet Nam". He stated that in order to impress the dignitaries at the demonstrations they used coconuts to demonstrate the destructive capabilities of the rifle and its small bore cartridge. Mr. Mullen further stated "they weren't coconuts all of the time." He stated that he did not record the location of an incident that happened at a South Viet Nam military outpost nor did he record the name of the Vietnamese officer who was probably a Major although his nickname was "The Pope" or something similar. At the conclusion of the coconut demonstration the Vietnamese officer gave instructions to bring out two Viet Cong prisoners from the compound. They were told in Vietnamese that if they reached the jungle, about 200-225 meters away, they would be free. The prisoners began running and "The Pope" did the shooting. Both prisoners were instantly killed with devastating wound results. Mr. Mullen stated that he had photographs of that incident but consignor and his wife declined the offer to look at them, much to their later regret. Mr. Mullen stated that there was no need to involve the testing of any other rifle than #106 as it never jammed and it never failed. Mr. Mullen also offered that the subsequent decisions by the military to switch to ball powder and a different rate of twist in the bores was the reason that so many of the early M-16s in Viet Nam jammed which resulted in numerous unnecessary deaths of American soldiers. He implied that if they had not been so intractable in going against the advice of the designer, Mr. Eugene Stoner, and had kept the orig cartridge loading and rate of twist that the jamming problem would probably not have occurred. Consignor and his wife, on 15 July 1992, visited the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution to seek an appointment with Dr. Ezell, the Curator of the Division of Armed Forces History at the Smithsonian and the author of numerous military firearms related books. Especially notable is his treatise The Great Rifle Controversy which is the defining work as relates to the AR-15/M16 project. Dr. Ezell stated that he was intimately familiar with this rifle and the history behind it and stated, in answer to a direct question, that #106 is in fact the rifle used at "The Watermelon Demonstration". On the same day consignor and his wife visited the headquarters of the United States Secret Service to attempt to verify the Pres. Kennedy connection. "
-Tom
http://jamesdjulia.com/auctions/div_catalog_308.asp?pageREQ=1
"Mr. Mullen, V.P. of Cooper MacDonald Co. Mr. Mullen stated that SN 106 is the rifle that made two trips around the world for demonstrations to various friendly governments. He stated that on July 4, 1960 this was the rifle that was used in the "Watermelon Demonstration". Mr. Mullen stated that the demonstration took place on Mr. MacDonald's farm which was an annual cookout & beer bust and that prior to the party Mr. MacDonald had told him to "bring the rifle - there will be some brass there". Mr. Mullen stated that the brass turned out to be Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, the Air Force Vice-Chief of Staff. Mr. Mullen stated that a demonstration was organized using four watermelons placed at 50, 75 & 100 yards. Gen. LeMay fired at three of the watermelons which completely destroyed them. When it was pointed out to the General that there was a fourth watermelon remaining and was asked if he wanted to shoot it or eat it. His response was "Let's eat the son of a bitch", which they did. While they were standing in the field eating watermelon Gen. LeMay explained that he had been looking for a rifle weighing less than the M-1 Garand and the Springfield M-14 but one with more punch than the M-1 carbine. Mr. Mullen recalled that Gen. LeMay was happy at the prospect of receiving his order in a timely manner and on the spot placed an order for 8,500 rifles. That demonstration with this rifle is the basis for what was to become one of the most widely disbursed military rifles in history with innumerable knock-offs in semi-auto configuration. Mr. Mullen, upon being asked regarding the legend that this rifle had actually been fired by Pres. John F. Kennedy from the Kennedy family yacht, the Honey Fitz, Mr. Mullen responded that he was unaware of such an occurrence. Mr. Mullen was then asked about the legendary "two around the globe sales trips". Mr. Mullen responded that there were actually more than two, he said that they were constantly traveling. Mr. Mullen related that "serious consideration was given by several countries, including the Philippines, India, Cambodia and South Viet Nam". He stated that in order to impress the dignitaries at the demonstrations they used coconuts to demonstrate the destructive capabilities of the rifle and its small bore cartridge. Mr. Mullen further stated "they weren't coconuts all of the time." He stated that he did not record the location of an incident that happened at a South Viet Nam military outpost nor did he record the name of the Vietnamese officer who was probably a Major although his nickname was "The Pope" or something similar. At the conclusion of the coconut demonstration the Vietnamese officer gave instructions to bring out two Viet Cong prisoners from the compound. They were told in Vietnamese that if they reached the jungle, about 200-225 meters away, they would be free. The prisoners began running and "The Pope" did the shooting. Both prisoners were instantly killed with devastating wound results. Mr. Mullen stated that he had photographs of that incident but consignor and his wife declined the offer to look at them, much to their later regret. Mr. Mullen stated that there was no need to involve the testing of any other rifle than #106 as it never jammed and it never failed. Mr. Mullen also offered that the subsequent decisions by the military to switch to ball powder and a different rate of twist in the bores was the reason that so many of the early M-16s in Viet Nam jammed which resulted in numerous unnecessary deaths of American soldiers. He implied that if they had not been so intractable in going against the advice of the designer, Mr. Eugene Stoner, and had kept the orig cartridge loading and rate of twist that the jamming problem would probably not have occurred. Consignor and his wife, on 15 July 1992, visited the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution to seek an appointment with Dr. Ezell, the Curator of the Division of Armed Forces History at the Smithsonian and the author of numerous military firearms related books. Especially notable is his treatise The Great Rifle Controversy which is the defining work as relates to the AR-15/M16 project. Dr. Ezell stated that he was intimately familiar with this rifle and the history behind it and stated, in answer to a direct question, that #106 is in fact the rifle used at "The Watermelon Demonstration". On the same day consignor and his wife visited the headquarters of the United States Secret Service to attempt to verify the Pres. Kennedy connection. "
-Tom