Early to Rise….  The Saturday of the John C. Garand  Match marked the end of a long week of  shooting competition at Camp Perry.  The day started before the sun even rose  and ended with a packed house awards  ceremony late in the evening.  The First Shot was there to cover the  Match from beginning to end, giving an  inside view to an event that, in four years,  has doubled in size, and promises to  bring a new generation of competitors  to the National Matches.  While the rest of the world sleeps in (after all, it  was Saturday), life stirred early at Camp Perry.  The IGA opened promptly at 5:00 am, and  people were already waiting outside to catch  an early breakfast. The restaurant was doing  a lively pre-dawn business.  Of the men in the IGA that we interviewed, only  one claimed to be a late riser (he normally gets  up at 6:00).  Many were coming to Camp Perry for the  first time, including Jerry from Salsbury, North  Carolina, who came because of "guilt by  association" with his friends. Roy, 70, from  Pine Island, Florida, was coming back to  Perry after a long hiatus (he shot at the  National Matches each year from 1957 to  1971). Roy was "plowing through the Internet  and saw that they needed volunteers."  In the CMP office next door, staff members  such as Tammy Will and Christie Prentice have  already arrived, and are updating the still-growing  list of Garand Match registrants. This year,  1,350 people have registered to shoot. The  first relay began at 7:00 am. The last relay  won't end until nearly 8:00 pm.  Of course, the National Matches are a  summer-long endeavor--CMP staff start  months in advance. The Saturday Garand  Match officially marked the end of seemingly  endless preparation.  Volunteers also play an important role  throughout the day--from beginning to end,  nearly 200 volunteers will be involved in making  sure the Garand Match runs smoothly.  For example, Patricia Siefert has been a  volunteer at the National Matches for 22  years, and has been part of the Garand Match  since its beginning in 1998. Her first volunteer  task at Camp Perry was in 1980 as a "telephone  talker" in the alley pits. For the 2001 Garand  Match, Patricia served as a relay coordinator  "counting heads and making sure there's five  on each target point.  In 22 years, Patricia has never actually shot  in the National Matches. "I'm a sucker for  volunteering."  One of the highlights of the Garand Match is  the participants who come wearing military  regalia from past wars. As shown in the picture  on this page (from left to right): Gil Sneider  of Green Bay, Wisconsin in late WWII 95th  Infantry uniform; Frank Walter of Fort Wayne,  Indiana dressed as a WWII Marine paratrooper;  Master Chief Al Bulejcik of the U.S. Coast  Guard dressed as an early WWII sailor.  Now, for those few at Camp Perry who weren't  up for the 7:00 am startup time, there's the  "7:25 cannon." (click here). All the commotion  of the early morning hours comes to complete  halt, and everyone faces the U.S. flag that  flies over the camp.  As is quickly becoming a tradition for the Garand Match, there is a moment of silence "in memory of those who served," then the firing of the cannon and the playing of  the National Anthem. Relay after relay is fired, and then comes one of those rules of which you learn to abide--you shoot, you spend your time  in the pits (See "The View from the Pits" -- click here). Standing on a concrete catwalk behind the firing line (with M1 bullets whizzing noisily overhead), first timers and old timers alike raise and lower the targets, marking hits.  It was a good thing that, for this Garand Match,  the weather was unseasonably cool for  August, and there was a breeze coming off  the lake. Part two click here>>>

Pre-dawn arrivals to Camp Perry Breakfast at the IGA Tammy and Christie taking care of last minute details at 5:30 am. Their workday wouldn't end until 11:00 pm Sunrise CMP staffer Christine Elder at check-in on the range "In Memory of Those Who Served," a number of shooters dressed in military regalia from past wars.