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A Tribute to a Friend and Shooter Shortly after midnight on July 4, 2002 Lance Corporal Barton Carroll, USMC, entered a bathroom at a gas station in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, on his way home from Jacksonville, North Carolina where he was stationed in the Marine Corps. He was five miles from home, on a trip he made to spend July 4th with his family and girlfriend. Tragically, Bart Carroll would not make it home. Another man followed him into the bathroom and assaulted and shot him, leaving his body and stealing his car. Barton Carroll was a 2001 graduate of Portsmouth High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after graduation. For two years prior to that, Barton had been a member of the Newport Rifle Club Junior Team, coached my Michele Makucevich. When Makucevich heard about the death of her former shooter and friend while standing in the checkout line at a grocery store, she was shocked. But her shock gradually changed to inspiration. "When you work with these kids you really love them. It was hard, very hard. I was so angry and frustrated thinking there was nothing I could do. That's when I had an idea." Makucevich set the gears in motion that eventually led to the Barton Carroll Memorial Rifle Match, a junior three-position air rifle match that was held for the first time on December 28, 2002. "Bart was just a great team player," she said. "He brought out the best of the people around him. We had to do something to honor him." The memorial rifle match in Carroll's honor brought out the best in the shooting community. The competitor turn out and community support for the match made it a tremendous memorial to him. Teams from the Wallum Lake Rod and Gun Club, Manville Sportsmen's Club as well as the JROTC teams from Rogers and Cranston East High Schools attended. Twenty-six shooters in all stepped to the firing line. "I had to turn away five shooters for lack of range space." Makucevich reported that the match will now become an annual event. "Next year I hope to make it a two-day event that can accommodate up to forty competitors." The match award ceremony was an especially moving tribute to Carroll. The Marine Corps supplied an honor guard for the ceremony. Carroll's parents, Michael and Elizabeth Carroll, attended and spoke of their son. They also presented awards and congratulated the match winners. "We are both proud and deeply grateful," Mrs. Carroll said about having a shooting competition as a tribute to her son. Mrs. Carroll said in her speech that the shooting sports deserve much credit for Barton's success as a Marine. She praised the experiences he received in competition shooting. Jacob Dame, 13, was introduced to competition shooting by Barton and placed first in the sub-junior precision rifle category at the match. "His legacy lives on," Dame said. "He was a good friend of mine. The whole week I wanted to win first place." Makucevich was proud of the community support attracted by this first year event, especially during the holidays when people are involved in so many other activities. "I look at it as a healing process for all of us. Our idea was mainly to honor Bart, to show his parents he is not forgotten and to express our gratitude for what he gave each of us. He's still part of our community. So long as I am able to run it, there will be a Barton Carroll Memorial Rifle Match." Individual Precision Rifle Champion: Laura Gavin, Newport Rifle Club Junior Team, score of 570 Individual Sporter Champion: Emily O'Rourke, Rogers High School, score of 478 Team Precision Champions: Newport Rifle Club Junior Team, score of ???? Team Sporter Champions: Rogers High School, score of 1,787 |