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Reader Comments:
Dear TFS,
We think your on line magazine is wonderful. I especially loved the July 4th article on the Junior Olympic Precision Championship Heats up in Corvette City. Those 2 young men Joseph and Jonathan Hall are our beloved grandsons. You have given these proud Grandparents, Betty and James Blankenship, down here in Conroe, Texas , an Article in full color to crow about for many years to come. Thank you for the wonderful job you do. We appreciate all the hard work it takes to make the Magazine so enjoyable for us to read. May you have many years of continued success. I’m sure you will be seeing the Hall guys for many years to come, since there are 4 of them. They are all great young men. We are the parents of their Mother, Creaestia Hall.
Thank you,
Betty and James Blankenship
Thanks for the last issue! Here I sit in N. Michigan reading all about the different actiities I culd be a part of if I was only about 10 years younger. Even at 80 I could have been one ofm your most enthusiastic comptitors , both in Rimfire and/or 1903's--maybe even B B Guns ("Air Rifles ' to you up-to-daters).I still have a Daisy Lever Action that my folks bought me when I was about 10 and can remember it was more powerful then the RED RYDER that my buddy's folks got him so we could shoot together!
So, at 82 the extent of my participation is what I glean from the newsletter.
Sincerely,
P.M. Gardner
Thanks so much for this Site. I am Retired from the Marine Corps, Was an RTE Armorer in the Marine Corps before Retirement, I have been retired for almost 40 years. Looking at your site brought back so many memories and let me think about the Marine Corps Matches and the people I have known. Going back is Fun even though I couldn't get into any position to shoot with the exceptions of Prone and Offhand.
Thanks again.
F. Rousseau
Just a short note to say Thanks for all of the work you folks do. I look forward to your email updates and enjoy reading what is happening at CMP.
Keep it up!
M.C., Oak Ridge, TN
In reference to your article "Sniper School Comes To Iraq", the 173rd Airborne Brigade operated a sniper school in Bihn Dihn Province, Viet Nam, as late as 1970.
W. Bunch
We received several comments, like the one above, regarding the Sniper story that we posted. We have revised it thanks to your comments.
Enjoy it very much. Especially happy to hear about the improvements at Camp Perry. They are long over due.
J. Nelson
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CHAMPION MARINE CORPS MARKSMAN LAUNCHES
2ND CENTURY OF NATIONAL MATCHES
By Gary Anderson, DCM
Photos by Ruth Ann Anderson
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| The flags posted at the First Shot Ceremony by a Navy Sea Cadets Unit from Perrysburg, Ohio represented the USA, the State of Ohio, the Civilian Marksmanship Program, the National Rifle Association and the Deputy Adjutant General, Ohio National Guard. |
Olympic silver medalist and many-time national champion Jim Hill was the guest of honor at the 2004 National Matches First Shot Ceremony on July 12 at Camp Perry, Ohio. Hill, a retired Marine, was invited by the CMP to be the First Shot Ceremony speaker and fire the ceremonial first shot that inaugurates each annual National Matches.
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| 2004 First Shot Speaker Jim Hill reminisced about his 46 years as a National Matches competitors and official. |
The First Shot Ceremony has been the official opening ceremony for the National Matches since the 1970s. A series of military and political leaders and, in recent years, champion shooters have had the honor of speaking at the ceremony and firing the matches’ first official shot. First Shot Speakers in the last few years included Ohio Adjutant General John Smith, Ohio State Senator Robert Latta, NRA President Marion Hammer, NRA Executive Director-General Operations Craig Sandler, Olympic gold medalist Nancy Johnson, world and national champion Bill Blankenship and the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army J. B. Hudson.
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| Champion Marine Corps shooter Jim Hill prepares to fire the First Shot of the 2004 National Matches. |
The 2004 First Shot Speaker is another champion marksman. Hill enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1948, won the National Service Rifle Championship at Camp Perry in 1956 and was a member of the 1956 Marine Corps Rifle Team that won the National Trophy Team Match. Hill achieved international fame when he won a silver medal in the 1960 Olympics; he missed winning a gold medal by the narrowest of margins. Hill performed the unprecedented feat of winning both a national highpower rifle championship and a national smallbore championship when he won the 1964 National Smallbore Rifle Championship. By the time he retired from the Marine Corps after 30 years of distinguished service, Hill had become one of only 33 Triple Distinguished Shooters. He won his Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 1956, his Distinguished International Shooters Badge in 1960 and his Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in 1986.
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| CMP Armorer Todd Dissinger sang the National Anthem and America the Beautiful during the First Shot Ceremony. Dissinger also sings professionally with the Atlanta and Birmingham opera companies. |
After he retired from the Marine Corps, Hill founded Creedmoor Sports, a firm that specializes in providing shooting jackets and accessories. He made many subsequent appearances at Camp Perry and won the National Civilian Service Rifle Championship in 1983. Subsequent to his competition career, Hill continued to dedicate himself to serving his fellow shooters by being a volunteer match official at Camp Perry. Since 1995, he has been the National Highpower Championship Match Director.
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| The Director of Civilian Marksmanship, Gary Anderson, presented the M1903 rifle used to
fire the 2004 first shot to Jim Hill after the ceremonial first shot was fired. |
Hill’s first shot ceremony speech focused on his memories of positive experiences he had through the 48 years he has come to the National Matches. He asked to be able to fire the first shot with an M1903 Springfield because that was “the rifle my grandfather carried as a Marine in World War I.”
The 2004 National Matches began with the Pistol Small Arms Firing School taught by the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit and supported by coaches from all of the military marksmanship units. NRA national pistol championship matches follow from July 14 through July 17. The CMP National Trophy Pistol Matches, including the Presidents Pistol Match, National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and National Trophy Team Match will take place on July 18. Anyone who wants to follow the results of these matches that typically feature intense rivalries between the Army and Marine Corps pistol teams should check the CMP web site at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=288 for complete up-to-the-minute scores.
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