The M1 Garand 🇺🇸 in Haiti 🇭🇹

The nation of Haiti as we know it formed its first army after a 30 year occupation by the USA. During that time the Haitian Gendarmerie was trained and equipped by US Marines and their M1903 rifles. The Gendarmerie became a real national army, the Garde d'Haiti, in 1934. In December 1941 Haiti declared war on Japan following Pearl Harbor. Haiti wasn't prepared to fight but it did become eligible for American Lend-Lease, and the modern US weapons were the first refit since independence.

Immediately after WWII Haiti went on a buying spree of surplus US gear because of a militant dictator who needed a well-armed force to maintain rule. The overthrows of government are too numerous to write, but the situation was so bad that in 1961 the US placed arms sanctions on Haiti, locking them in on their WWII era weaponry. From their perspective, there was not a pressing need to replace it even using covert means. Thus the M1 persevered as the standard arm.

Tulsa was the site of one of the country’s bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence in 1921, when white mobs attacked black citizens and businesses with guns and explosives dropped from airplanes. A truck carries soldiers and African Americans near the Litan Hotel during race riots. Smoke rises from the ruins of African Americans' homes following race riots. Alvin C. Krupnick Co./NAACP Records/Library of Congress #history

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Wendy’s on fire!