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The Marines of that era in the Pacific war were not invariably delighted with their issued sidearm, the 1911A1 (the 1 MAR DIV records attest to this repeatedly). Roettinger was almost certainly in good company carrying a personal revolver during the New Guinea campaign.
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One of the things my dad told me, when I was a little guy, one of the things meant to show me how the Marines were special, is that he said they were permitted to carry a personal sidearm of their choosing. Maybe what he meant is that while guys in the various services might do that, the Marines formally allow it. In his case, though, he carried the 1911.
He left the Marines in 1945, after assisting in the surrender of Japanese troops in China after the war ended.
My dad died an unrepentent, and victorious, CIA cold warrior. He believed very deeply in that near half-century conflict. But when he died 50 years after he left the Marines, he wanted nothing but USMC on his USG-supplied, veteran's tombstone. That's what was important to him, so that's what it says. Just that, his name, and 1917 - 1995.