Rockbilly,
You need a history lesson.
We had the 1911 loaded with the 45 in both world wars. Some troops were issued 38's by Smith (liberty guns) that the Brits did not take. All four rounds worked well (9mm, 38/200[Brit version of 38S&W loaded with a 200 grain bullet], 38 spl, and 45 acp), Heck the Italians had 380 ACP as their hand gun round. What your thinking of is the Morros in the Philippine islands. They would wrap themselves real tight with cloth to stop blood loss if they were hit and would take drugs. The 38 colt long with a small bullet ( the war department was trying to save $ by using less materials) was not effective on the drugged and bound up insurrection fighters. Some troopers still had the old Colt SAA in 45 and found that the big slug was effective in putting down the charging forces and that's when John M Browning designed the 1911 to meet the new specs. Now lets jump a head to the present. Ball 45, 40, and 9mm all have about the same one shot stop rating. Mid to low 60% range according to the book street stoppers. The guy who wrote it looked at all gun shots where a bullet type was used in a shooting and where a torso hit was made and did the math as to how effective a particular round was in the field. By the way the little 32 Acp with silver tips was just as effective as ball 9 or 45.
Add in the new technology of controlled expanding bullets and all of the self protection calibers (9mm, 38 Spl, 357 Sig, 357 Mag, 40, 10mm, and 45) are really all the same. Ford, Dodge, and Chevy. A pick up is a pick up. But some like the different features of each brand.