Greatest...Ever Devised

On these pages I have already expressed my interest in motorcycles & firearms. Those of you who know me know that, like Paul Harvey, I want to know 'the rest of the story', and will sometimes go to great lengths to research (read: waste a lot of time on) a subject.

I have already shared information on John Taliaferro Thompson, creator of the 'Tommy Gun' sub-machine gun. Others in the pantheon of firearms designers that I should also research and share would no doubt include Sam Colt, Leonard Geiger, Dr. Richard J. Gatling, B. Tyler Henry, Daniel Wesson, Erskine Allin, Fordyce Beals, John Marlin, John Moses Browning, and Bill Ruger.

But today's segment is about John C. Garand, father of the Garand rifle, which Gen. George S. Patton once termed "The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised", and was crucial to the U.S. infantrymen in WWII. Despite the great success and accolades of his invention, he never received any royalties for his design.

Inventions come and go, but great designs are truly timeless...