Lot - U.S. Beretta M9 GO Pistol Issued to General Norman Schwarzkopf

Historic and Important U.S. Issued Beretta M9 General Officer Semi-Automatic Pistol, the Personal Sidearm of U.S. Army Four Star General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Carried During the Gulf War, with Holster Throughout American history, distinctive sidearms have remained key symbols of the United States military and have often been seen as symbols of the men that carried them and their mission, such as Theodore Roosevelt carrying a Colt Model 1892 Navy revolver from the U.S.S. Maine as he charged up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders to secure Cuban independence from the Spanish Empire or General George Patton’s ivory handled Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers he carried while leading U.S. troops during the fight to free Europe from fascist occupation during World War II. Given the legacy of pistols as symbols of rank as well as functional sidearms, in 1944, the U.S. Army began issuing general officers with distinct sidearms. Initially, the Colt Model 1908 and 1903 pistols were issued along with a general officer’s belt, holster, and magazine pouch rig. From 1972 to 1982, the Rock Island Arsenal Model 15 based on the Colt Commander design was issued followed by standard U.S. Model 1911A1 pistols in 1982 to 1986. In 1985, the U.S. Army adopted the Beretta M9 as a replacement for the Model 1911A1, and special variants with “GO” prefixes were issued to general officers starting the following year. However, their period of issuance was much more restricted. In his American Rifleman article “General Officer’s Pistols,” Bruce Canfield indicated only 555 M9 general officer’s pistols were issued between August 1986 and December 1987 when the program was discontinued. Originating from northern Italy in the early 16th century, Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the world, but the U.S. M9 pistols were manufactured here in the United States at Beretta’s factory in Accokeek, Maryland. Over 600,000 pistols were produced for the military, and the M9 went on to serve as the standard U.S. military service pistol until 2017, seeing extensive use in the U.S. operations in the Middle East starting in the Gulf War. The current pistol, Beretta M9 GO-00698, was issued to beloved U.S. Four-Star General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) who was promoted to lieutenant general on July 1, 1986, and, as commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), had this M9 as he led bold U.S. military offenses in the Gulf War in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He became well-known to the American public and the world as Stormin’ Norman, but by that time, he had already earned his preferred moniker among the servicemen: the Bear. Schwarzkopf idolized his father, Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. (1895-1958), who graduated from West Point in 1917 and fought in World War I, rose to the rank of colonel, and then served as the commander of the New Jersey State Police, including during the dramatic Lindbergh kidnapping case in 1932. While Schwarzkopf was a young boy, his father again served in the U.S. Army in World War II and notably served in Iran and Germany and also participated in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Operation Ajax. The operation assisted a successful coup removing the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh from power in Iran and increasing the power of the Shah and also prevented Iran from nationalizing their oil fields and opened access to U.S. oil companies. Following failed reforms, increasing authoritarianism, and massive inflation, the Shah was overthrown in 1979 in the Iranian Revolution, setting the stage for much of the turmoil in the region that followed, including the Iran-Iraq War. Schwarzkopf was educated at the Bordentown Military Institute outside Trenton, New Jersey, while his father was serving abroad. When asked why he would not smile for his cadet picture, he is noted as responding, “Someday when I become a general, I want people to know that I’m serious.” He left the school to rejoin his father abroad and learned to shoot and hunt in Iran in 1946 and attended high school in Tehran, Geneva, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg before graduating as the valedictorian of his class at the Valley Forge Military Academy in 1952. He followed in his father’s footsteps and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy West Point in 1956 as the 43rd of a class of 480. By that time, he was a bear of a man at 6 foot 3 inches tall and 240 pounds and a noted athlete and joined the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant and platoon leader in the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He advanced up the ranks and also completed graduate studies, earning a master of science in mechanical and aerospace engineering and then instructing in the Department of Mechanics at West Point. Schwarzkopf experienced the horrors of war for the first time in Vietnam after volunteering for combat service in 1965, serving with a South Vietnamese airborne brigade with distinction and bravery. The following year, he was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded four times by small arms fire while leading paratroopers in a fight against the Viet Cong. After returning to the U.S., he finished teaching at West Point and completed further studies at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. He returned to Vietnam a lieutenant colonel in 1969 and was shocked by the state of U.S. forces. He received a second Purple Heart, three Bronze Star Medals, and a Legion of Merit for his courageous leadership, including in a gut wrenching experience working to extract men from a minefield. He remained in the Army with a dedication to improving the lives of servicemen and veterans. His experiences in Vietnam exposed him to the real costs of war and further solidified his appreciation for the men and women doing the actual fighting. He later famously stated: "A professional soldier understands that war means killing people, war means maiming people, war means families left without fathers and mothers. All you have to do is hold your first dying soldier in your arms, and have that terribly futile feeling that his life is flowing out and you can't do anything about it. Then you understand the horror of war. Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for." By the time of the Invasion of Grenada in 1983, Schwarzkopf was a major general, and he served as the chief army adviser for Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf III who commanded the invasion and then became deputy commander and was on the ground during the operations. At the beginning of July in 1986, he was promoted to lieutenant general and served as the U.S. Army’s senior member on the Military Staff Committee at the U.N. Security Council. In 1988, he was assigned as the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). With regional tensions mounting between Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government and friendly neighboring Middle Eastern nations at the time, Schwarzkopf was selected for the role partially due to his familiarity with the region and cultures, having accompanied his father to Iran in his youth. This familiarity, along with his brilliant leadership skills proved pivotal in the role that he would play in the Gulf War as the commander of a combined international coalition made up of assets from forty-three Western and Middle Eastern nations, the largest since World War II. In the months leading up to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Schwarzkopf formed contingency plans, with his “Internal Look 90” war plan scenario (which simulated a regional tyrant launching an invasion of a smaller neighboring nation and their oil fields) being used as the basis for the coalition’s counter offensive. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, they pushed further than General Schwarzkopf had initially presumed, and thus he developed another contingency to defend neighboring Saudi Arabia from invasion as well, known as “Operation Desert Shield”, which saw the gradual buildup of U.S. and allied forces. Schwarzkopf’s counter offensive plan to liberate Kuwait, dubbed “Operation Desert Storm”, was set to begin after a United Nation’s deadline for Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait ended on January 15, 1991. For the operation, General Schwarzkopf devised a plan of using overwhelming combined ground, air, and sea forces, with the ground element pushing in from the Saudi Arabian border to overwhelm the Iraqis and drive them out of Kuwait. The air campaign commenced on January 17, and the ground campaign launched on February 24, achieving complete air superiority, successfully driving Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, and forcing Iraq to accept the coalition’s terms for peace by February 28, 1991. Under his leadership, coalition forces drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait in just forty-two days, and the actual operations on the ground lasted less than 100 hours. By March, U.S. forces were returning home victorious, and no one was more proud of their service than General Schwarzkopf. During the operations, General Schwarzkopf visited the front lines on several occasions. In photographs, he can be seen wearing a belt rig with an M12 holster on his left hip and a Beretta M9 pistol stowed. An included January 10, 2026, dated statement from Schwarzkopf's daughter Cynthia lists this pistol by model and serial number and states: "My father noted this pistol as being his sidearm during the Gulf War." An included February 22, 1989, dated DA Form 2062 is also included listing "Pistol, Semi Automatic, General Officer, 9MM Serial Number: GO 00698" and stating "I certify that the weapon described above is currently in my possession, under the conditions of chapter 3, AR 725-1." Below is General Schwarzkopf's signature and the date 14 April 89. The address given is "General H. Norman Schwarzkopf/Commander-in-Chief/United States Central Command/MacDill Air Force Base, Florida 33608." The pistol features fixed blade front and notch rear sights, "U.S. 9mm M9-P.BERETTA-65490" and "circle/PB" marked on the left side of the slide with "ASSY9346442-65490" and "P M" marked on the right side, "9346426-65490" marked on the underside of the chrome-lined barrel, "U.S. 9mm M9-P.BERETTA-65490" repeated on the right side of the frame with the "GO-00698" serial number on the left side, and the magazine release set up in left-hand configuration (correct as General Schwarzkopf was left-handed). The pistol is fitted with a pair of Crimson Trace checkered plastic grips with a pressure pad activated sighting laser in the right panel and a "PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY" marked phosphate magazine. The pistol includes a black leatherette General Officer belt rig with mounted Bianchi Officer Model black leatherette M12 holster and a black leatherette dual cell magazine pouch containing an extra magazine. Shortly after his leading coalition forces to victory, General Schwarzkopf retired and clearly kept this pistol as a reminder of his service to the country. He soon published his autobiography: "It Doesn't Take a Hero". The New York Times reported that he was "the nation's most acclaimed military hero since the mid-century exploits of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur..." He returned home as a beloved American hero, a sharp juxtaposition from his experiences in Vietnam. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was also feted abroad, including the Order of Kuwait with Sash of Most Excellent Order. In addition to enjoying hunting, fishing, and shooting, he poured much of his energy towards charitable causes and conservation, including promoting the recovery of grizzly bear populations and as a member of The Boone & Crockett Club. In one interview he noted: "I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that, but I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I'd like to think I'm a caring human being... It's nice to feel that you have a purpose." He passed on from this life on December 27, 2012, after decades in service to his country and was survived by his wife Brenda and their children, Cynthia, Jessica, and Christian. Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno released a joint statement reading in part: "His life story touches on much of the fabric of our nation's story, ensuring his memory will remain with us for generations. Our nation owes a great debt of gratitude to General Schwarzkopf and our Soldiers will hold a special place in their hearts for this great leader. While much will be written in coming days of his many accomplishments, his most lasting and important legacies are the tremendous Soldiers he trained and led." Note: This item features a high-capacity magazine which has a capacity above 10 rounds and cannot be sold or transferred to individuals in CA, CT, DC, HI, MD, MA, NJ, NY, RI, or WA. Please check your local laws and regulations prior to bidding.

Manufacturer: Beretta Pietro

Model: M9

BBL: 5 inch round

Gauge: 9 mm Parabellum

Finish: phosphate/anodized

Grips: synthetic

Serial NumberGO-00698

Class: Modern Handgun

Provenance: The Collection of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (Ret.)
Condition: Exceptionally fine, retaining 90% original phosphate and anodized finishes with scattered light edge wear, scuffs, handling wear, and character marks consistent with what would be expected from a genuine issued and carried duty use sidearm. The grips are fine with crisp checkering and electronically functions as tested. Mechanically excellent. The holster rig is very fine with some mild rub wear. Overall an extremely desirable and historic U.S. Beretta M9 General Officer pistol as issued and carried by legendary U.S. Army General H. Norman "The Bear" Schwarzkopf! The ultimate General Officer Beretta M9!

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Lot 142

U.S. Beretta M9 GO Pistol Issued to General Norman Schwarzkopf

U.S. Beretta M9 GO Pistol Issued to General Norman Schwarzkopf

Starting Bid: $50,000

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