December 28th, 2023
9minute read
It is inescapable.
The individuals who repeat this story always describe being an eyewitness to the phenomenon.
But what is the truth in all this?
A U.S. Navy SEAL armed with an AR-15 Model 601 is seen here during a training exercise on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on February 21, 1963.
To understand, we need to consider a completely coincidental series of circumstances that unfolded between 1966 and 1968.
But what about Mattel?
Mattel M16: Reality vs.
A U.S. Army advisor armed with an AR-15. Note the absence of a forward assist device and that the ARVN soldiers he is embedded with are armed with M1 Garand rifles.
So how then did it become a part of this story?
To them, the M16/M16A1 seemed less like a service rifle and more like a toy.
Then in 1966, Mattel inadvertently invited direct comparisons when it released an actual toy closely resembling the M16.
Marines advancing and firing down a street in Huế’s Citadel on February 21, 1968. With the exception of a single XM16E1, they are armed with M16A1 rifles. Image: CSU Archives/Courtesy Everett Collection
John Wayne himself has one either in hand or slung over his shoulder in just about every scene.
A pivotal action sequence in the film depicts Sgt.
Mortally wounded in the struggle, Sgt.
Screenshot from the movieThe Green Beretsshowing John Wayne holding the MattelMarauderthat he is about to smash against a tree. Image: Warner Bros.
Kowalski is dead by the time that Colonel Kirby and the rest of the team reach the scene.
At about the same time, it was beginning to creep into another corner of the real world.
That is the point at which theMarauderbegan to fade into obscurity neither entirely forgotten nor entirely remembered.
Shown is the left side of the Mattel Marauder. The holes in the magazine allow for the unobstructed flow of sound from the internal speaker. Image: Jeff Hallinan of Collectors Firearms in Houston, Texas
U.S. Army Brigadier General Alvin C. Isaacs and the 469,217th GM Hydra-Matic M16A1. Image: Courtesy of Dr. Laura Rankin
A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant of the 8th Special Forces Group poses for a photograph in the day room of his barracks at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone while holding a Mattel Marauder in January 1968.
This is a left side view of the Mattel M16 Marauder toy rifle. It bears a close resemblance to the U.S. military’s issued weapon. Image: Jeff Hallinan of Collectors Firearms in Houston, Texas
