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In addition to my dad being an SP during the sixties my grandfather was a bomber pilot during WW2(I'm not making this up). He flew B-17's out of Mass on anti-sub patrol from 41(we were getting involved before Pearl Harbor) until early 44 and then he and many other pilots were trained on the B-29. He then flew in the bombing campaign against the Japanese home islands in 1945. He was issued a S&W M&P w/5" barrel when he flew the B-17's. After he went to the Pacific the commanding general (Curtis LeMay?) had the pilots turn in their handguns - for reasons that nobody could figure out. I've done some research on this , but I can only find conflicting information. I have photos of the pilots carrying 45's, but I also have found other writing saying that LeMay did do that. Whatever the situation my grandfather was a resourceful man and got his hands on a 1911 and a couple boxes of 45acp.
He told me once that the handgun was looked at strictly for self-defense. There was no intention of engaging the enemy except as a last ditch measure. He said that he and his crew pretty much understood that if they were shot down their chances of surviving weren't very good. The handgun just made him feel a little better. If nothing else it was a mental booster. Of course when he was flying sub patrol over the Atlantic the handgun wasn't very useful. It usually stayed in his flight bag.
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