• The Rifle

  • Combat Stories from America's Last WWII Veterans, Told Through an M1 Garand
  • By: Andrew Biggio
  • Narrated by: Shawn Compton
  • Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (593 ratings)

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The Rifle  By  cover art

The Rifle

By: Andrew Biggio
Narrated by: Shawn Compton
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Publisher's summary

The Rifle is the inspirational story of a 28-year-old US Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all - WWII veterans.

It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII, to honor his great uncle, a US Army soldier who died on the hills of the Italian countryside. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years. On the spur of the moment, Biggio asked Drago to sign the rifle. Thus began this Marine's mission to find as many WWII veterans as he could, get their signatures on the rifle, and document their stories.

For two years, Biggio traveled across the country to interview America's last-living WWII veterans. Each time he put the M1 Garand Rifle in their hands, their eyes lit up with memories triggered by holding the weapon that had been with them every step of the war. With each visit and every story told to Biggio, the veterans signed their names to the rifle. Ninety-six signatures now cover that rifle, each a reminder of the price of war and the courage of our soldiers.

©2021 Andrew Biggio (P)2021 Tantor

What listeners say about The Rifle

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A must read

The fact that within a few shot years, those that lived through WWII and experienced this horrific period of our history, will no longer be with us to remind us that it mustn’t happen again. Only though books like this will we remember.

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6 people found this helpful

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Incredible story a must read!

I served in the Marines with Andy. He has done more for Veterans than anyone I know. Sharing the story of the greatest generation, and what happened to his Great Uncle is remarkable!

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book!

well written, and fantastic, captivating stories from the vetrans. An awesome book! i would recomend it to all.

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3 people found this helpful

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Excellent WWII history told by the men who fought

I followed Andy's journey from the beginning. His book exceeded my expectations and will yours too! If you are interested in WWII, Andy takes you to some of the most famous battles with stories by the warriors who fought it.

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3 people found this helpful

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Wow. Just wow

Powerful. Thank you for sharing these heroic stories. We owe them all everything for what they've done and it was captured beautifully in this book.

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Wonderful read! Our Heroic WWII Veterans

The greatest warriors to pick up the spear. Fantastic book! The author truly did what many fail to do nowadays. Listen to those who came before us. Our eternal heroes, the greatest generation. I loved this book. My grandfathers one in the 104th Timberwolves and the other a Marine in the South Pacific passed away before I was old enough to ask them what their experiences were like in WWII. Because of the research the author has done. I feel even more prideful of my grandfathers service. I have to thank him for his service in the the Marines during the GWOT campaign and for the veterans he talked to.
- Hank M. 302 MP CO.

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Essential Book for WWII Fanatics

This book is powerful. As Biggio is collecting these stories, these WWII heroes are dying before the book publishes. The journey, the history, the humanity…this book is worth it, you’ll come back to it…and you’ll buy it for a friend.

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Poor editing

Some good stories were marred by poor editing and amateurish use of language. Word choice and usage were often questionable.

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Never Can Get Enough

Thank you Andrew Biggio for your outstanding book. Just as you can't get enough strong coffee every morning, it's impossible to get enough stories from veterans of WWII. Only a few are left now and given the state of the country, it might be for the best considering they bought our freedom with their blood. Our freedom that we are letting slip away into tyranny. But with these stories, the reader can live the experience vicariously with the men who fought. What an interesting and varied group of veterans. It's truly amazing how different every experience is. There just aren't enough good things to say about this book and the M1 Rifle that inspired it. BRAVO!!!

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A N IMPORTANT TRIBUTE TO OUR HEROES

God bless Andrew for capturing the heroic tales of these very special men, before their stories were lost forever to the passing of time. The fact that he had the foresight to have them sign the gun was a stroke of genius. It clearly transported them back, most often not to happy times, but IMPORTANT times in their lives. These men would have been an honor to know in person.
It is sad that we STILL don't do enough to support the emotional, physical and financial needs of our veterans. They give EVERYTHING, and we repay them with so little.
Don't hesitate to listen to this book, it is a SOLID FIVE STARS!

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