Two Marines built six machine guns the Marine Corps never authorized. They had ten weeks, hand tools, and aircraft parts pulled from scrap bins.
In November 1944, Sergeant Mel Grevich and PFC John Lyttle began modifying AN/M2 aircraft machine guns at Camp Tarawa, Hawaii. The standard M1919A6 fired 400 rounds per minute. Their modified weapons fired 1,200. Three times faster. Seven pounds lighter. Operated by one Marine instead of three. No paperwork. No approval from ordnance. No serial numbers.
The 28th Marines were about to land on Iwo Jima — directly beneath Mount Suribachi, against 21,000 entrenched defenders. Grevich knew the regulation guns wouldn't cut it. So he built something that wasn't supposed to exist.
On February 19, 1945, all six weapons hit Green Beach. What they did in the next 72 hours — and what happened to the men behind them — was never officially recorded.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
In November 1944, Sergeant Mel Grevich and PFC John Lyttle began modifying AN/M2 aircraft machine guns at Camp Tarawa, Hawaii. The standard M1919A6 fired 400 rounds per minute. Their modified weapons fired 1,200. Three times faster. Seven pounds lighter. Operated by one Marine instead of three. No paperwork. No approval from ordnance. No serial numbers.
The 28th Marines were about to land on Iwo Jima — directly beneath Mount Suribachi, against 21,000 entrenched defenders. Grevich knew the regulation guns wouldn't cut it. So he built something that wasn't supposed to exist.
On February 19, 1945, all six weapons hit Green Beach. What they did in the next 72 hours — and what happened to the men behind them — was never officially recorded.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00At 2200 hours on November 17, 1944, Sergeant Mel Grevich stood inside a storage depot at Camp
00:07Tarawa, Hawaii, looking at a line of damaged aircraft awaiting disposal. 26 years old,
00:1418 months in the Pacific, zero innovations that had saved a single life. His battalion had lost
00:2111 machine gunners over the past four weeks during training exercises. The issue was speed.
00:27The M1-919A6 light machine gun weighed 32 pounds and delivered 400 rounds per minute.
00:35German MG42s delivered 1,200 rounds per minute. Japanese Type 92s delivered 450.
00:43American Marines were outmatched. Grevich had watched three gunners die on Bougainville because
00:49they couldn't establish suppressive fire fast enough. The enemy simply pushed through the
00:53gaps in their firing pattern. Grevich was assigned to G Company, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine
01:00Division. The regiment was gearing up for the invasion of Iwo Jima. Intelligence reports estimated
01:0721,000 Japanese defenders entrenched in 11 miles of underground tunnels. The Marines would land
01:14on black volcanic sand with no place to take cover. Machine gun teams would be essential. But the M1-919A6
01:22was too slow, too heavy, too exposed. Three weeks prior, Grevich had gone to his company commander.
01:31He explained that the M1-919A6 required three men to operate effectively. One gunner, one assistant gunner
01:38to feed ammunition, one ammo bearer to haul spare belts. If the gunner went down, the whole fire team
01:46fell apart. The weapon was also hard to reposition during an assault. Marines had to halt, deploy the
01:52bipod, and only then start firing. By that point, Japanese defenders had already pinpointed their
01:58location. The company commander listened. Then he asked Grevich if he had a solution. Grevich did.
02:05He had seen it work on Bougainville 13 months earlier. In November 1943, he had been with the
02:123rd Parachute Battalion. Marines had recovered AN-M, two aircraft machine guns, from wrecked dive
02:20bombers. These weapons were designed to be installed on SBD Dauntless aircraft. They fired 30 caliber
02:28rounds at 1,200 rounds per minute, three times faster than the M1-919A6. The barrels were
02:36lighter. The weapons were engineered to be cooled by 300 mph airflow during flight.
02:43On Bougainville, a Marine named Private Bill Colby had simply mounted a bipod on an AN-M2 and
02:51used it as a ground weapon. It worked. But the weapons still had aircraft-style spade grips.
02:58No stock. No proper trigger. It was functional, but clumsy. Grevich and his platoon leader,
03:05Lt. Philip Gray, had modified 1AN-M2 more thoroughly. They added an M1 Garand rifle stock, a BAR bipod,
03:17a fabricated trigger. The weapon worked. But the 3rd Parachute Battalion was disbanded before
03:24they could deploy it in combat. Grevich was reassigned to the 28th Marines. The modified AN-M2
03:32was left behind. Now, in November 1944, Grevich stood in that depot, recalling what that weapon
03:40could do. The 28th Marines would land on Iwo Jima in fewer than three months. The M1919A6
03:48wouldn't be sufficient. He needed that AN-M2 modification. But this time, he needed six of
03:55them. One for each rifle platoon in G Company, one for the demolition section, one for himself.
04:02His company commander greenlit the project. So did the battalion commander. Grevich was authorized
04:08to construct the weapons. But there was a complication. He needed parts. AN-M2 receivers,
04:16M1 Garand stocks, BAR bipods, trigger components, metalworking tools. And he needed them without
04:24official requisition paperwork. The modification wasn't standard issue. It wasn't sanctioned
04:30by Marine Corps ordinance. If Grevich went through proper channels, the project would be held up for
04:35months. Maybe years. He found Private First Class John Little. Little was a machinist. He understood
04:43tolerances and fabrication.
04:46Grevich laid out what he needed. Little agreed to help. If you want to see how Grevich and Little
04:51managed to build six unauthorized machine guns in secret, please hit that like button. It
04:57helps us share more forgotten stories from World War II. Subscribe if you haven't already.
05:02Back to Grevich. The two Marines began scouring the base. They needed six AN-M2 receivers.
05:10These were controlled items. Aircraft armament. Supposed to be tracked and turned in when damaged.
05:15But thousands of aircraft had been lost in the Pacific. Damaged. Crashed. Shot down.
05:22Some of those aircraft had been salvaged. Parts were sitting in warehouses. Waiting to be scrapped
05:28or shipped back to the states. Grevich and Little started asking around. They visited maintenance
05:33depots, salvage yards, aircraft repair shops. They found three AN-M2s in a parts bin marked for scrap.
05:41Two more in a wrecked aircraft fuselage. The sixth they obtained from a source little later described
05:47as God knows where. By late November, they had six receivers. But they still needed stocks.
05:55Bipods. Sights. Triggers. And they had fewer than ten weeks before the division shipped out for Iwo Jima.
06:03Every night after regular duty, the two Marines worked in a makeshift workshop.
06:07And every night, they wondered if they'd finish in time. Or if they'd be caught with unauthorized
06:14equipment before they ever got the chance to prove it worked. The first modification started on November
06:1921st. Grevich and Little worked in a corner of the battalion maintenance shed after nightfall.
06:25The AN-M2 aircraft machine gun weighed 23 pounds with its spade grips attached. The receiver was built to
06:35be bolted into an aircraft mount. There was no provision for a shoulder stock. No standard trigger
06:42mechanism. The weapon was fired by squeezing two butterfly triggers on the spade grips. This system
06:49worked perfectly in an aircraft turret. It was nearly useless for a Marine pushing across open ground.
06:56Little started by detaching the spade grips. The grips were fastened to the rear of the receiver with
07:02four bolts. Once removed, the weapon had no way to be aimed or handled. The next step was building a
07:10trigger assembly. The AN-M2 used an electrical solenoid to fire. Aircraft triggers sent current to the
07:20solenoid. Little needed to construct a mechanical trigger that would engage the same firing circuit.
07:26He shaped a trigger from sheet metal, bent it to the proper angle, drilled mounting holes, fitted a simple
07:33trigger guard fashioned from scrap steel. The trigger was rough, but it worked. The stock was trickier.
07:42The M1 Garand rifle stock was shaped to fit the Garand receiver. The AN-M2 receiver had an entirely
07:50different profile. The rear of the machine gun receiver included a buffer tube. This tube contained the
07:57recoil spring. It extended several inches behind the main body of the weapon.
08:02Little grabbed a spare Garand stock and started cutting. He removed the forward section, carved out the
08:10rear portion to accommodate the buffer tube. The work demanded precision. If the stock fit too loosely,
08:17the weapon would be wobbly. If it fit too tightly, it would crack under recoil stress. Little spent six
08:25hours on the first stock. He used hand tools, files, chisels, sandpaper. When he was done, the stock slid over
08:35the buffer tube with minimal clearance. He drilled holes for mounting bolts. Secured the stock to the
08:42receiver. The weapon now had a shoulder rest. But it still lacked sights and a bipod. The BAR bipod was
08:50simpler
08:50to install. The bipod connected to a mounting bracket on the barrel shroud. Little fabricated an adapter plate
08:57from quarter-inch steel. The adapter let the BAR bipod fit the AN-M2 barrel. He welded the adapter into
09:06place.
09:06Tested the bipod deployment. It held. The weapon could now be fired from a prone position.
09:14The rear sight posed another challenge. The AN-M2 had basic sights designed for aircraft use.
09:22These sights were inadequate for ground combat. Little considered using BAR sights, but the BAR rear sight
09:30had its windage knob on the right side. The AN-M2 receiver configuration required the windage knob on the left.
09:39Little located M2 heavy barrel machine gun sights in the parts inventory.
09:44These sights had left side windage adjustment.
09:47He adapted the sight mount to fit the AN-M2 receiver. Attached it with screws to the top plate.
09:55The final modification was an ammunition feed system. The AN-M2 was designed to be belt-fed from
10:03aircraft ammunition bays. Marines couldn't carry loose ammunition belts in combat. Little built a
10:09hundred-round ammunition box from sheet metal. The box mounted to the left side of the receiver.
10:15A standard cloth ammunition belt could be loaded into the box. The belt fed directly into the weapon.
10:20This allowed one Marine to carry and fire the weapon without an assistant gunner.
10:26By December 5th, the first weapon was finished. Grevich and Little brought it to a remote section
10:32of the base firing range. They loaded a hundred-round belt. Grevich shouldered the weapon. Aimed at a target
10:3950 yards downrange. Squeezed the trigger. The weapon fired. Twelve hundred rounds per minute.
10:46The sound was distinctive. Sharper than the M1919. Faster. The recoil was controllable with the stock.
10:55The bipod kept the weapon steady. Grevich fired three 10-round bursts. All rounds landed within an 18-inch
11:04group. But there was a problem. After 30 rounds, the barrel began to smoke. After 50 rounds, the barrel was
11:13too hot to touch. After 75 rounds, the weapon ceased firing. The barrel had expanded from heat. The AN-M2
11:24was
11:24designed to be cooled by airflow at high speed. On the ground, there was no cooling. The barrel overheated
11:31in under two minutes of sustained fire. Grevich and Little talked through solutions. They couldn't add
11:38water cooling. That would add weight and complexity. They couldn't alter the barrel diameter. That would
11:44require machining equipment they didn't have. The only answer was to change how Marines used the weapon.
11:52Short bursts. Five to ten rounds maximum. Let the barrel cool between bursts. It wasn't perfect, but it was
12:00workable. By December 20th, they had finished three weapons. By January 5th, all six were done. Each weapon
12:08weighed 25 pounds. Seven pounds lighter than the M1919A6. Each fired three times faster.
12:17The weapons were painted olive drab. Grevich named his weapon Betty Ann. The others got similar names.
12:26The names were stenciled on the receivers in white paint. On January 7th, 1945, the 5th Marine Division
12:33boarded transport ships in Hawaii. The six modified weapons were stowed in equipment crates. No official
12:41paperwork recorded their existence. No Marine Corps armorer had examined them. No ordinance officer had
12:48signed off on them. Grevich carried the maintenance manual for the standard AN-M2 in his pack. He hoped it
12:57would suffice if anyone asked questions. The convoy sailed west toward the Japanese home islands.
13:04And Grevich wondered if his unauthorized machine guns would hold up in actual combat. Or if they'd fail
13:11when Marines needed them most. The convoy halted at Eniwetok Atoll on February 5th. The Marines carried
13:19out equipment checks. Grevich inspected all six weapons. He test-fired each one at an improvised range
13:26on the island. All six functioned. The overheating issue persisted. But the weapons fired reliably in
13:33short bursts. Five to ten rounds. Pause. Five to ten rounds. This firing rhythm would work for
13:41suppressing pillboxes and enemy positions. On February 13th, the convoy ran a practice landing on Tinian.
13:49This was the final rehearsal before Iwo Jima. Grevich brought all six weapons ashore during the exercise.
13:56He wanted to observe how they performed during an actual amphibious assault. The weapons survived the
14:02landing. But the ammunition boxes took punishment. Saltwater spray corroded the metal. Sand clogged the feed
14:11mechanisms. Grevich and Little spent two days cleaning and waterproofing the boxes. They wrapped
14:17the weapons in canvas tarps for the real assault. On February 16th, the convoy reached the waters off
14:24the coast of Iwo Jima. The island was eight square miles of volcanic rock. Mount Suribachi dominated the
14:31southern tip. Intelligence briefings estimated 21,000 Japanese defenders. Most were underground. The island
14:39had been bombed for 74 straight days. Navy battleships and cruisers had hurled thousands of shells at the
14:45beaches. But reconnaissance photos revealed the defenses were still intact. The plan called for the 28th
14:53Marines to land at Green Beach. This beach was on the far left of the landing zone, directly beneath
14:59Mount Suribachi. The regiment's objective was to drive across the narrowest part of the island, sever the
15:06mountain from the rest of the Japanese defenses, then assault and capture Suribachi itself.
15:12The terrain was punishing. Black volcanic sand that swallowed mortar and artillery impacts.
15:19Steep terraces that funneled attackers into kill zones. Pillboxes and bunkers covering every approach.
15:26Grevich gathered his fire team on February 18th. He explained how the modified weapons operated.
15:33Short bursts only. Never sustained fire. The barrel would overheat. The weapon would jam.
15:40Marines needed to fire, pause, fire, pause. Each gunner would carry 200 rounds in ammunition boxes.
15:51Additional ammunition bearers would carry spare belts. The assistant gunners would watch barrel
15:56temperature. If the barrel started smoking, cease fire immediately. The weapons were handed out.
16:04One went to 1st platoon. One to 2nd platoon. One to 3rd platoon. These were the rifle platoons of G
16:12Company. One weapon went to the demolition section. Grevich kept the 5th weapon. Betty Ann. He would carry it
16:21himself during the assault. The 6th weapon posed a problem. G Company had 5 weapons. But Grevich had
16:29built 6. The extra weapon needed a gunner. Someone who understood machine guns. Someone who could be
16:36trusted with an unauthorized weapon. The battalion commander suggested Corporal Tony Stein. Stein was
16:44assigned to A Company, 28th Marines. Different company. But Stein had a reputation. He was a toolmaker.
16:51A machinist from Dayton, Ohio. He had worked at Patterson Field and Delco Products before enlisting.
16:57He understood mechanical systems. He had experience modifying equipment. Stein met with Grevich on February
17:0418th. Grevich showed him the weapon. Explained the modifications. Demonstrated the firing technique.
17:11Stein inspected the trigger assembly. The stock fitment. The ammunition feed system.
17:18He asked technical questions. How much clearance in the buffer tube. What grade of steel for the trigger
17:24guard. Whether the bipod mount could withstand repeated deployment stress. Grevich answered every
17:30question. Stein grasped the weapon immediately. There was speculation afterward about why Stein received
17:37the sixth weapon. Some believe Stein had contributed to the construction. That he had assisted Grevich and
17:44Lytle during the fabrication process. Lytle never confirmed this. He only said that Stein was a
17:50machinist by trade. That Stein understood how the weapon functioned. That he could be trusted to use it
17:57effectively. The precise arrangement was never documented. On February 19th at 0400 hours, Marines
18:05began climbing into landing craft. The naval bombardment had resumed at 0640. Battleships fired 16-inch shells at
18:14the beaches. Cruisers fired 8-inch shells at the terraces above the landing zone. Destroyers moved within the
18:211,000 yards of shore and fired 5-inch shells at pillboxes. The noise was deafening. Continuous.
18:29The entire island vanished behind smoke and dust.
18:34Grevich stood in the landing craft with 42 Marines from G Company. Betty Ann was wrapped in canvas.
18:40The ammunition box held 100 rounds.
18:44He carried two additional belts in a pack. Total weight? 47 pounds. The M1919A6 with tripod and ammunition
18:54weighed 56 pounds and required two men to carry. Grevich's weapon was lighter, faster, and completely
19:01unauthorized. At 0830, the landing craft formed assault waves. The bombardment lifted. Naval gunfire
19:10shifted to targets inland. The first wave headed for Green Beach. Grevich's craft was in the second wave.
19:17Scheduled to land at 0915. He could see Mount Suribachi ahead. 550 feet high. Black sand beach at the base.
19:28Smoke billowing from the bombardment. No visible enemy fire. The beach looked deserted. Intelligence had
19:36predicted moderate resistance for the first few hours. Then heavy counterattacks once the Marines
19:41pushed inland. At 0915, the first wave struck the beach. Grevich watched from 800 yards offshore.
19:49The landing craft dropped their ramps. Marines surged out. Ran up the beach. Still no enemy fire.
19:58The beach remained quiet. Grevich wondered if the bombardment had done its job.
20:03If the Japanese defenses had been wiped out. If the landing would be easier than anticipated.
20:10Fifteen minutes later, he would discover exactly how wrong that assumption was.
20:14And whether his unauthorized machine gun could accomplish what no regulation weapon could.
20:20At 0912, Grevich's landing craft crossed the line of departure. The beach was 300 yards ahead.
20:26The first wave had vanished into the terraces above the waterline.
20:30Still no enemy fire. The silence was eerie. 42 Marines in the craft. Nobody spoke.
20:38The only sounds were the engine and waves slapping the hull.
20:43At 0914, the craft was 100 yards from shore. Grevich could make out the beach clearly now.
20:50Black volcanic sand. Steep terraces rising 15 feet above the waterline.
20:57Wrecked landing craft from the first wave. But no Marines in sight. They had all pushed inland. The beach
21:04looked deserted. At 0915, the ramp dropped. Grevich was the third Marine out. His boots hit waist-deep
21:13water. The sand beneath was unstable. Volcanic ash mixed with larger rocks. Every step took effort.
21:21The weight of Betty Ann and ammunition made movement harder. He drove forward.
21:2720 yards to the beach. 15 yards. 10 yards. The first mortar round landed at 0916,
21:3640 yards to Grevich's left. The blast threw black sand 20 feet into the air.
21:43The second round landed five seconds later, 30 yards to his right.
21:48Then the beach erupted. Mortars. Artillery. Machine gun fire from concealed positions in the terraces.
21:56The Japanese had waited. Let the first two waves land. Allowed the Marines to crowd together on the
22:02beach. Then opened fire from prepared positions. Grevich reached the beach at 0917. He dropped behind a
22:11small mound in the sand. Unwrapped Betty Ann. Deployed the bipod. Scanned for targets.
22:18The enemy fire was coming from pillboxes embedded in the terraces. Concrete reinforced positions with
22:25interlocking fields of fire. The pillboxes were invisible until they opened up. Then they disappeared
22:32behind smoke and dust. A Marine 20 feet to Grevich's right had an M1919A6. The gunner was trying to set
22:41up
22:41the weapon. The assistant gunner was feeding the ammunition belt. Both were exposed. A burst of
22:48Japanese machine gun fire struck the assistant gunner. He went down. The primary gunner grabbed the
22:55weapon and tried to reposition. A second burst caught him in the chest. The M1919A6 fell into the sand.
23:03The fire team was wiped out in eight seconds. Grevich spotted the Japanese position. A pillbox,
23:1270 yards inland. Firing port, six inches high, two feet wide. He shouldered Betty Ann, aimed at the
23:20firing port, pulled the trigger. Ten rounds, one second. The distinctive sound of the AN-M2 cut through the
23:30chaos of the beach. 1,200 rounds per minute. The tracers showed every fifth round. All 10 rounds
23:39impacted around the firing port. The Japanese gun went silent. Grevich paused, let the barrel cool for
23:47five seconds. Acquired a second target. A machine gun position 80 yards to the left. Fired another 10-round
23:55burst. The position fell quiet. He shifted to a third target. Fired. Shifted again. Fired. Each burst was
24:06deliberate. Controlled. Short enough to prevent overheating. Long enough to suppress the target.
24:14The difference was immediately clear. The M1919A6 fired 400 rounds per minute. A 10-round burst took 1.5
24:22seconds. Betty Ann fired the same 10 rounds in .8 seconds. Half the exposure time. Half the time
24:30for enemy gunners to lock onto Grevich's position. The higher rate of fire also produced better suppression.
24:37Japanese defenders couldn't return fire effectively when 1,200 rounds per minute were striking around
24:43their position. Other Marines with the modified weapons began hitting targets. Grevich could hear the
24:49distinctive sound of the AN-M2S across the beach. Higher pitched than the M1919. Faster cycling.
24:59The six weapons were spread across Grevich with different companies and platoons, but all six were
25:05firing. All six were functioning. By 0930, elements of the 28th Marines had pushed inland. The beach was still
25:14taking fire, but the intensity had dropped. The modified weapons had suppressed enough positions to open
25:21gaps in the Japanese defensive fire. Marines exploited those gaps. Advanced forward. Established positions
25:28in the terraces. Grevich's ammunition box was empty. 100 rounds spent in 15 minutes. He reloaded with a
25:37fresh belt. The barrel of Betty Ann was hot. Not critical yet, but nearing the limit. He would need
25:45to slow his rate of fire. Give the barrel more time to cool between bursts. At 0945, a Marine runner
25:52reached
25:53Grevich's position. The runner was from A Company. He reported that Corporal Stein was engaging pillboxes
26:00on the right flank. Stein had already made three runs back to the beach for more ammunition. Each run,
26:06he brought a wounded Marine with him. Stein was moving without his helmet. Without his boots. Trying
26:13to cover ground faster under fire. Grevich acknowledged the report. He wondered how long
26:19the weapons would hold out. The barrels were thin. Designed for aircraft use with forced air cooling.
26:28Combat on Iwo Jima was different. Sustained fire. Limited cooling. High ambient temperature from
26:35volcanic activity. The island itself was hot. Steam rose from fissures in the ground. The combination
26:42of combat heat and environmental heat was beyond anything the weapons were built to endure.
26:47At 10 hundred hours, Grevich heard a different sound. Not the crack of rifle fire or the thump of
26:53mortars. This was a scream. High pitched. Inhuman. Coming from Japanese positions inland.
27:02Marines later reported hearing similar sounds throughout the first day. Some believed it was
27:08Japanese soldiers reacting to the modified weapons. The rate of fire was unfamiliar. The sound was
27:14unfamiliar. The effectiveness was beyond what they had experienced from standard American machine guns.
27:21Whether the Japanese actually called them monster guns would never be verified. But the psychological
27:26impact was undeniable. And Grevich knew his weapon was performing exactly as intended. The question now
27:33was whether it could maintain that performance through the days of fighting ahead.
27:38By 1100 hours on February 19th, all six modified weapons were in constant use.
27:44The gunners had learned to manage the overheating problem. Five to ten round bursts. Fifteen second
27:51cooling intervals. The technique worked. Barrels stayed within operating temperature. The weapons kept
27:58functioning. The tactical advantage was considerable. Standard American machine guns required a crew of three.
28:05One gunner. One assistant to feed ammunition. One bearer to carry spare belts. The modified weapons required
28:14only one marine. The gunner carried the weapon and ammunition. The hundred round box eliminated the need
28:21for an assistant feeder. This meant rifle squads could keep full strength while still having machine gun support.
28:28The weight reduction also counted. 25 pounds versus 32. A marine could carry the weapon and still move
28:36quickly across broken terrain. The first platoon gunner engaged a pillbox complex northeast of Green
28:43Beach at 1130. The position contained three interlocking firing ports. Japanese defenders had clear fields
28:52of fire covering the approach to the terraces. The gunner advanced to within 60 yards. Fired a 15 round
28:59burst at the center port. Shifted left. Fired at the second port. Shifted right. Fired at the third port.
29:07Total engagement time, 12 seconds. All three ports went silent. The platoon pushed through the gap.
29:16The second platoon gunner worked alongside a demolition team at 1200 hours. The team was tasked
29:22with destroying a concrete bunker built into the base of a terrace. The bunker had a steel door, reinforced
29:30walls. The demolition team needed to place charges directly against the door. But Japanese fire from
29:37neighboring positions blocked the approach. The gunner suppressed four positions in sequence. Short
29:43bursts. Rapid target transition. The demolition team reached the bunker. Set charges. Pulled back.
29:51The bunker was destroyed at 1215. The third platoon gunner hit the overheating limit at 1230.
30:00He had been firing almost continuously for 90 minutes. The barrel temperature surpassed safe
30:06limits. The weapon jammed. The gunner cleared the jam. Tried to resume firing. The weapon jammed again.
30:14He stopped. Let the barrel cool for 10 minutes. The weapon resumed function. But the incident exposed the
30:23fundamental limitation. The AN-M2 barrel was designed for short bursts in aircraft combat,
30:31not sustained ground fire. Gunners had to exercise discipline. Short bursts. Long pauses. It was the only
30:40way to keep the weapons running. The demolition section gunner used his weapon to cover engineer teams
30:47clearing obstacles. Japanese defenders had placed mines and wire obstacles across approach routes.
30:54Engineers needed to clear these obstacles under fire. The gunner provided suppression. He fired at
31:01Japanese positions. Forced the defenders to duck. The engineers finished their work. By 1300 hours,
31:09three major obstacle belts had been cleared. The 28th Marines drove deeper inland. Grevich continued engaging
31:17targets throughout the afternoon. Betty Ann had fired roughly 400 rounds by 1400 hours. The barrel showed
31:24signs of wear. Heat discoloration near the chamber. Slight warping along the length. But the weapon still
31:32cycled. Grevich monitored the barrel closely. He shortened his bursts to five rounds. Extended cooling time
31:39to 20 seconds. The adjusted firing pattern kept the barrel within limits. Tony Stein's performance on the right
31:47flank became remarkable by mid-afternoon. Stein was using his modified weapon to attack pillboxes head-on.
31:54His technique was aggressive. He would spot a pillbox. Advance to close range. Fire sustained bursts at the firing
32:03port. Then rush the position with grenades while Japanese defenders were pinned.
32:07The method worked. But it ate through ammunition rapidly. Stein made eight trips back to the beach
32:15for resupply by 1500 hours. Each trip covered roughly 200 yards under fire. Each trip, he brought back
32:23wounded Marines who couldn't make it on their own. The psychological effect of the weapons became evident
32:29during the afternoon fighting. Japanese defenders reacted differently to the modified weapons than to
32:35standard machine guns. The rate of fire was triple what they expected. The sound was distinct. Higher
32:42pitched. More intense. Several Marines reported hearing Japanese soldiers shouting during firefights.
32:49The exact words were unclear. But the tone suggested surprise or alarm. Whether this translated to genuine
32:57fear was impossible to confirm. What was confirmed was effectiveness. The six weapons had suppressed
33:04dozens of positions. Enabled multiple advances. Supported breakthroughs that standard weapons could not
33:11deliver. By 1600 hours, the 28th Marines had reached their D-Day objective. They had crossed the 800-yard
33:19neck of the island. Mount Suribachi was cut off from the main Japanese defenses. The regiment had taken heavy
33:26casualties. But they held their positions. Prepared to assault the mountain the following morning.
33:33Grevich inspected Betty Ann at 1630. The barrel was damaged. Heat stress had produced micro-fractures along
33:40the chamber. The weapon was still operational. But it wouldn't hold out much longer. He estimated maybe two
33:47more days of combat before barrel failure. The other five weapons showed similar wear. Little examined each
33:54weapon that evening. His assessment was uniform. The barrels were degrading faster than expected. The
34:01weapons had maybe 48 hours of service life left. After that, they would need replacement barrels.
34:07But there were no replacement barrels. The AN-M2 aircraft gun wasn't designed for field maintenance.
34:15If the barrels gave out, the weapons were done. And the 28th Marines would be back to standard machine
34:20guns. Slower. Heavier. Less effective. Grevich wondered if six weapons in two days would be enough.
34:29Or if they'd burn out before the real fighting even started. February 20th began at 0600 with a cold
34:35rain. The 28th Marines prepared to assault Mount Suribachi from three directions. The mountain was 550 feet
34:43of volcanic rock riddled with caves and tunnels. Japanese defenders had artillery positions, machine
34:50gun nests, mortar pits, all linked by underground passages. The Marines would have to fight uphill
34:57across open ground with minimal cover. Grevich's fireteam moved out at 0730. Their mission was to
35:05suppress positions on the eastern slope while rifle squads advanced. Betty Ann had cooled overnight.
35:12The barrel still showed heat damage. But the weapons cycled normally during a pre-assault function check.
35:19Grevich loaded a fresh 100-round belt. He calculated he had enough ammunition for 10 to 12 engagements
35:26before needing resupply. The advance started slowly. Japanese positions opened fire from hidden locations.
35:34Mortars. Machine guns. Rifles. The terrain funneled the Marines into narrow corridors.
35:41Every corridor was covered by overlapping fire. The modified weapons became vital for cracking these
35:47defensive positions. Grevich would locate a Japanese machine gun. Fire a 10-round burst. The Japanese gun
35:55would go quiet. Rifle squads would advance 20 yards. Then another position would open up. Grevich would suppress it.
36:03The cycle repeated without pause. By 0900, three of the six modified weapons had suffered malfunctions.
36:11The first platoon weapon experienced a barrel split. The thin aircraft barrel couldn't withstand the
36:18sustained heat and pressure. The weapon was inoperable. The gunner switched to a standard M1919A6.
36:26The rate of fire dropped immediately. The demolition section weapon had a feed mechanism failure.
36:33Sand and volcanic dust had built up in the ammunition box. The belt jammed during feeding.
36:38The gunner spent 15 minutes clearing the jam. The weapon resumed function, but demanded constant cleaning.
36:47The third platoon weapon overheated critically at 0930. The gunner had been engaging targets continuously
36:54for 40 minutes. He didn't allow enough cooling time between bursts. The barrel temperature blew past
37:00critical limits. Metal fatigue caused the barrel to warp. Rounds began keyholing. Accuracy degraded beyond
37:08useful range. The gunner tried to keep firing. The weapon jammed permanently. He abandoned it and
37:15grabbed a rifle from a wounded marine. Three weapons remained functional. Grevich's Betty Ann, the second
37:23platoon weapon, and Tony Stein's weapon on the western approach. These three weapons shouldered the burden of
37:29machine gun support for the entire regiment during the morning assault. The loss of the other three
37:35weapons forced tactical adjustments. Rifle squads had to generate their own suppressive fire using M1 Garands
37:42and BARs. Advance rates slowed. Casualties climbed. Grevich's ammunition supply became critical at 10
37:51100 hours. He had fired 600 rounds since 0730. His last ammunition belt had 75 rounds remaining. No resupply was
38:01immediately available. The beach was 300 yards behind the front line. Enemy mortar fire covered the route.
38:09Ammunition bearers couldn't move forward safely. Grevich had to conserve ammunition. He cut burst length to
38:16three rounds. Selected only critical targets. Positions that directly endangered advancing marines.
38:24The second platoon weapon failed at 1045. The trigger assembly broke. The sheet metal fabrication
38:31couldn't endure repeated firing stress. The trigger snapped off at the mounting point.
38:36The gunner attempted field repair. He tried to manually engage the firing solenoid. It didn't work.
38:43The weapon was done. The second platoon lost its machine gun support. Betty Ann and Stein's weapon were
38:51the last two functioning. Grevich was on the eastern slope. Stein was on the western slope. They couldn't
38:58coordinate. Couldn't back each other up. Each was isolated with his respective unit. Each had limited
39:06ammunition. Each had a damaged weapon that could give out at any moment. Grevich's last belt ran out at 1120.
39:1475 rounds. Gone in six engagements. The ammunition box was empty. He hunted for resupply. Found a wounded
39:24marine carrying spare belts for a standard M1919. The belts were compatible. Grevich loaded one.
39:31fired a test burst. Betty Ann cycled normally. He had 200 rounds remaining. After that, the weapon became
39:41dead weight. The assault on Suribachi continued through the afternoon. Progress was measured in yards.
39:48Every cave entrance had to be cleared. Every pillbox destroyed. Every tunnel sealed.
39:55The Marines used flamethrowers. Demolitions. Direct fire from tanks. The modified weapons,
40:02when they were still functional, had provided critical fire support during the initial advance.
40:07But by mid-afternoon on February 20th, only two weapons remained operational.
40:13And both were living on borrowed time. By 1700 hours, the 28th Marines had advanced 200 yards up the mountain.
40:21They held positions halfway to the summit. Casualties were severe. The regiment had lost 430 Marines killed
40:30or wounded in two days. The advance would resume the next morning. But Grevich knew Betty Ann wouldn't
40:37survive another day. The barrel was visibly warped. The receiver showed stress cracks. The trigger
40:44assembly was loose. He estimated the weapon had maybe 50 rounds of life left. After that,
40:50he would be hauling 25 pounds of inoperable equipment. And the 28th Marines would have one
40:57fewer weapon to punch through Japanese defenses. The Marines would take Suribachi. But they would do it
41:04with standard weapons. The modified guns had served their purpose. Now they were dying. One barrel at a time.
41:11One engagement at a time. Until nothing remained but the idea that two Marines with hand tools had built
41:18something the Marine Corps Armory never could. Betty Ann fired its last rounds on February 21st at 0815.
41:26Grevich was suppressing a machine gun nest on the northern slope of Suribachi.
41:31He loaded his final ammunition belt. 50 rounds. He fired three 10-round bursts.
41:38The Japanese position went quiet. Grevich attempted a fourth burst. The weapon jammed. He cleared the stoppage,
41:49pulled the trigger again. Nothing. The firing solenoid had failed. Electrical connections severed by
41:57sustained vibration and heat stress. Betty Ann was done. Grevich set the weapon down.
42:05He picked up an M1 Garand from a wounded Marine. For the next two days, he fought with a rifle.
42:13The weapon he had spent three months designing and building had lasted 72 hours in combat. Three days.
42:23But those three days had counted. Tony Stein's weapon lasted longer. Stein continued using his modified gun
42:31through February 23rd. That was the day the 28th Marines reached the summit of Mount Suribachi.
42:38A 40-man patrol from E Company made the climb at 0800. They carried a small American flag. At 1020,
42:47the flag was raised on the summit. Photographers captured the moment. Later that afternoon, a second,
42:53larger flag was raised. Associated press photographer Joe Rosenthal photographed the second flag raising.
43:00That image became one of the most iconic photographs in American history. Stein's weapon failed on February
43:0724th. Barrel fracture. Complete structural failure near the chamber. The weapon literally broke apart
43:14during firing. Stein was unhurt. But the gun was destroyed. He switched to a standard M1919A6 for the
43:23remainder of the Suribachi fighting. By February 26th, all six modified weapons were non-functional.
43:31Four had barrel failures. One had a broken trigger assembly. One had a catastrophic receiver crack that
43:38made it unsafe to fire. The 28th Marines gathered the damaged weapons. They were supposed to be turned
43:45into battalion armory for documentation. But the weapons were never officially registered. No serial
43:51numbers. No property books. No maintenance records. The damaged weapons vanished. Possibly discarded with
43:59other battle-damaged equipment. Possibly buried in the volcanic sand. The exact fate was never recorded.
44:06Stein returned to combat after Suribachi was secured. The 28th Marines moved to the northern sector of the
44:13island. The fighting grew fiercer. Japanese defenders had prepared extensive cave systems. Machine gun
44:20positions covered every approach. Progress slowed to yards per day. Casualties mounted. On March 1st,
44:28Stein volunteered to lead a 19-man patrol. The mission was to locate and destroy a Japanese machine gun
44:35complex that had pinned down A Company. Stein advanced with the patrol at 1,400 hours. The
44:42patrol moved through broken terrain north of Hill 362A. Japanese positions were concealed in caves and
44:49spider holes. The patrol took fire from multiple directions. Stein identified the primary machine gun
44:56position. He was firing a standard weapon now, not his modified gun. The rate of fire was slower. The
45:04suppression less effective. He advanced toward the position. A Japanese sniper in a concealed position
45:10fired one round. The round struck Stein in the head. He was killed instantly. 23 years old.
45:1914 days after landing on Iwo Jima, the recommendation for Stein's Medal of Honor was submitted on March 15th.
45:27His platoon commander wrote the initial citation. The citation described Stein's actions on February 19th,
45:34the first day of the invasion. Stein had been armed with a personally improvised aircraft-type weapon.
45:40He had provided covering fire for his platoon. Made eight trips to the beach for ammunition. Each trip,
45:47he carried wounded marines to safety. He had killed at least 20 Japanese defenders. Destroyed multiple
45:54pillboxes. Stood upright under fire to draw enemy attention and locate their positions. The citation made no
46:03no mention of grevage. No mention of little. No mention of the three months of work in Hawaii.
46:09No mention of the unauthorized fabrication. No mention of the other five weapons.
46:15The citation described the weapon as personally improvised. This implied Stein had constructed it
46:22himself. The language was technically accurate. Stein had received the weapon. He had used it personally.
46:29But the phrase personally improvised suggested sole authorship. Individual creation.
46:36That was inaccurate. The Medal of Honor recommendation moved up the chain of command.
46:42Battalion commander approved it. Regimental commander approved it. Division commander approved it.
46:49Fleet Marine Force Pacific commander approved it. Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz approved it.
46:55Chief of Naval Operations approved it. Secretary of the Navy approved it. President Harry Truman signed the
47:04final authorization. On February 19, 1946, exactly one year after the landing, Stein's widow received the
47:13Medal of Honor at a ceremony in Columbus, Ohio. Governor Frank Lausche presented the award. Admiral Richard
47:21Pernoyer placed the medal around her neck. The citation was published in newspapers across the country.
47:28The story centered on Stein. His bravery. His sacrifice. His improvised weapon.
47:36The narrative was compelling. A toolmaker from Dayton who modified an aircraft gun and used it to save his
47:44platoon. The story was true. But incomplete. Two other Marines had designed the weapon. Built six of them.
47:54Distributed them to gunners across the regiment. Those two Marines were never mentioned in the citation.
48:01Never mentioned in the news coverage. Never mentioned in the historical record that followed.
48:07Mel Grevich and John Little had created the weapon that earned Tony Stein a Medal of Honor.
48:13But history remembered only Stein. The question was why, and whether anyone would ever set the record
48:20straight before the last men who knew the truth were gone forever. The reason Grevich and Little
48:25disappeared from history was simple. They survived. Stein died. The Medal of Honor is almost always
48:32posthumous during wartime. Of the 464 Medals of Honor awarded during World War II, 324 went to men who died
48:41earning them. The citation tells the story of the recipient's final moments. The heroic action that
48:48cost them their life. That narrative is powerful. Compelling. It grabs attention. Grevich survived Iwo Jima.
48:57He fought through the entire 36-day battle. He was wounded twice. Neither wound was serious enough for
49:04evacuation. He returned to Hawaii with the 5th Marine Division in March 1945. The division prepared for
49:12the invasion of Japan. Operation Olympic. Scheduled for November 1, 1945. Japan surrendered in August.
49:22Grevich never spoke publicly about the modified weapons. He was discharged in 1946. Returned to
49:29Mountain Iron, Minnesota. Lived a quiet life. Died in the 1980s. His obituary made no mention of the
49:37Stinger. John Little also survived. He fought on Iwo Jima with H Company, 28th Marines. He was at the base
49:45of
49:46Mount Suribachi during the flag raising. He saw both flags go up on February 23rd. After the war,
49:53he returned to civilian life. Became a home builder in California. He rarely talked about his combat
49:59experience. In his later years, he confirmed his role in constructing the weapons. But he never sought
50:06recognition. Never reached out to historians. Never pushed to set the record straight. He died in 2015.
50:13His obituary noted he was a decorated Iwo Jima survivor. Nothing about the Stinger.
50:21The Marine Corps never officially adopted the modified AN-M2 design. After Iwo Jima, there were
50:29recommendations to manufacture the weapon in larger quantities. Replace the BAR in rifle squads. Issue
50:36one modified weapon per platoon. The recommendations traveled up the chain of command.
50:42Ordinance evaluators studied the concept. They identified the fundamental problem. The barrel.
50:48Aircraft barrels couldn't handle ground combat stress. The weapons worked for short engagements.
50:54But they failed after prolonged use. Replacement barrels would be needed constantly. The logistics were
51:00impractical. The Marine Corps continued using the M1919A6 through the end of World War II. The weapon was heavy,
51:09slow, slow, but dependable. It could fire continuously without barrel failure. That dependability mattered more than rate of fire.
51:17After the war, the Marine Corps developed new weapons. The M60 machine gun entered service in 1957.
51:24It offered better portability than the M1919, higher rate of fire, quick-change barrel system.
51:32The M60 incorporated lessons drawn from weapons like the Stinger. But the Stinger itself was forgotten.
51:39Military historians uncovered the Stinger story decades later. They found references in unit records.
51:46After-action reports mentioned modified weapons used by the 28th Marines. But the reports didn't name
51:53Grevich or Little. They credited Stein because his Medal of Honor citation was the most detailed documentation.
52:00Researchers assumed Stein built the weapon alone. The citation said, personally improvised.
52:07That phrase led historians to conclude individual fabrication. It took years of additional research
52:13to uncover Grevich and Little's role. Interviews with surviving Marines. Examination of technical details.
52:21Analysis of who had the skills and access to construct such weapons.
52:26Today, only one Stinger replica exists. It was built by the Canadian Historical Arms Museum for a
52:33television documentary. The replica required three months to construct. Modern machinists,
52:39with full machine shops and reference materials, needed 90 days to reproduce what Grevich and Little
52:45built with hand tools in 10 weeks. The replica demonstrated the weapon's effectiveness.
52:511200 rounds per minute. Manageable recoil. Accurate fire. But it also demonstrated the overheating problem.
53:00After 75 rounds, the barrel exceeded safe temperature limits. The replica confirmed every detail of the
53:09historical accounts. The original six weapons were never recovered. They disappeared on Iwo Jima. Destroyed by
53:18combat. Discarded as battle damage. Buried in volcanic sand. None survived. No serial numbers were recorded.
53:29No maintenance logs preserved. No maintenance logs preserved. The weapons existed for three months.
53:36They fought for three days. Then they vanished. Only the story remained.
53:45If this story moved you the way it moved us, do me a favor. Hit that like button. Every single
53:52like
53:53tells YouTube to show this story to more people. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. We are
54:00rescuing forgotten stories from dusty archives every single day. Stories about sergeants and machinists
54:07who saved lives with improvised weapons and three months of night work. Real people. Real heroism.
54:16Drop a comment right now and tell us where you are watching from. Are you watching from the United States?
54:22United Kingdom? Canada? Australia?
54:25Australia? Our community stretches across the entire world. You are not just a viewer. You are part of
54:32keeping these memories alive. Tell us your location. Tell us if someone in your family served. Just let us
54:39know you are here. Thank you for watching. And thank you for making sure Mel Grevich and John Little do
54:46not
54:46disappear into silence. These men deserve to be remembered. And you are helping make that happen.
Comments