M2 Stinger

Common card · No. 361500

The "Stinger" was a customized field modification of the .30-caliber AN/M2 aircraft machine gun. The Stinger was a man-portable modification of the AN/M2 — primarily mounted by various contemporary US aircraft — to provide additional firepower to a platoon. A handful of these weapons were used during the Pacific Theater of World War II. Nicknamed as such due to its extremely high rate of fire which led to the weapon having "quite a sting", most of the Stinger's fame comes from its use by Medal of Honor awardee Corporal Tony Stein, who used it during the Battle of Iwo Jima to provide covering fire for his platoon mates. While often attributed as Stein's work, the Stinger was actually the brainchild of two marines, namely Sergeant Milan "Mel" J. Grevich and Private First Class John Lyttle.

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