Tom Hanks famously depicted Captain John Miller in “Saving Private Ryan” toting his trusty Thompson submachine gun — “Tommy gun” — from the beaches of Normandy far into the interior of France in 1944.

** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. ** At the beginning of World War II, ...

Except for Al Capone, Gen. John Thompson would be forgotten by all but serious devotees of military history. The two never met, being cut from different cloth. Thompson, a khaki-clad military man who ...