My Dad was 34 just before the Battle of the Bulge. He was field promoted to platoon sergeant and said the hardest part was actually getting his men to fire their M 1,s. He finally stared carrying a BAR to cover fire when they were reluctant. I listened to his advice.
I’ll bet you did! At 34, he must have been an old man to them!
I got a chance to fire a BAR, that was great-the weapon was very heavy, but I found it was fairly easy to control because of that (in my opinion)
It felt like holding power in your hands!
Why were they reluctant to fire their weapons?