I was a medic in the Army and learned to handle various weapons while I worked in my unit's armory (Where I was introduced to 1911 and learned to make them reliable as they weren't out of the box new) but truly learned to shoot properly and effectively from shooting USPSA matches and from top regional match shooters. Same goes for LEO as my wife's cousins are PD Sergeant and SD Deputy and they are lousy shooters. When I shot USPSA, we hosted many servicemen and LEO and they were not proficient shooters but we took care to properly train them to engage multiple targets fast and accurate.
Just because one is a veteran does not make him/her a weapons expert and proficient shooter. You can respect and honor him for his service but don't have to agree with his individual opinion.
What I do tell people is to handle as many pistols as they can (Dry fire while watching the front sight and choose the one that does not move/jerk the front sight - The hallmark of a good accurate match pistol) and shoot as many pistols as they can and
CHOOSE the pistol they can shoot fastest and most accurate, regardless of brand or price. For some people, it's the 1911. For many people, it's the Glock.
My wife got to shoot a lot of pistols and narrowed her choice of defensive pistols down to 40S&W Glocks and she is deadly with them. Her statement is, "If I can see anything inside the house, I can hit it."
When my sister got scared after a homeless person tried to break into her house, she wanted a defensive pistol and after shooting various pistols, chose M&P40 as she was comfortable with it and could shoot fast and accurate. She is very proficient with her M&P40 and to their amazement, she outshot other male match shooters shooting 9mm pistols.
I teach/share defensive point shooting as PIF -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...endence-from-work.853305/page-2#post-11175698
Recently met a neighbor whose girlfriend wanted a carry pistol as her work got robbed at gunpoint along with businesses around her work. After trying different pistols and being taught to point shoot by me, she ended up showing proficiency with Glock 23. I am currently teaching elderly couple and their neighbors and they showed proficiency with Glock 22/23 with 40-9 conversion barrels and they chose to go with Glock 19s.
Me? While I am proficient with Glocks, my heart belongs to 1911. My railed Sig 1911 XO with 10,000+ rounds through it "melds" into my hands like a tight glove and for some reason, I get that "special" feeling whenever I grab it. I recently ordered Fusion Firearms complete 9mm slide so I could enjoy my Sig 1911 even more.
I am also growing to like GSG 1911 22LR (Same as Sig 1911 22LR) and at low 22LR prices of $15-$20/500, I enjoy shooting it even more -
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...15-20-500-shipped.853059/page-2#post-11173609
It's a free country and life is short and we are going to die and stuff.
Do what you want and don't pay attention to others trying to change your mind.
While I like my Glocks, I love my 1911s.