National Rifle & Pistol Championships
Camp Perry, Ohio

Marine Pistol Expert Aims At '64 Olympics

CAMP PERRY - There could be gold in the future again for Marine coprs Capt. William W. McMillan Jr.

A gold medal winner in the 1960 Olympics at rome, Captain McMillan will be aiming for a repeat win of one of the most coveted medals in sports at the 1964 Olympics this fall in Tokyo.

Now competiting in the National Rifle and Pistol Championships here, Capt. McMillan qualified for the U.S. Olympic team at Fort Benning, Ga., this summer by finishing first in the .22 caliber rapid fire pistol competition.

Capt. McMillan, stationed at Quantico, Va., started off with a literal bang in the national championships by winning the .45 caliber preliminary match here with a 298-14 score.

A native of Turtle Creek, Pa., Capt. McMillan enjoyed a meteroic rise to the top of the pistol shooting world.

He entered the Marines as an enlisted man in 1946 and almost by accident tries his hand at pistol shooting for the first time in 1949.

The captain had such a natural knack for it that by 1952 he qualified for the Olympics in Helsinki.

Since that time, Capt. McMillan has captured most of the laurals in shooting. He won the national championship at Camp Perry in 1957 and took the world title in Moscow in 1958.

He topped this by winning his Olympic gold medal in 1960 with a stirring finish. He was tied with a Russian and a Finn for first place at the end of the regular shooting and had to win a shoot-off to capture the honor.

Capt. McMillan was a staff sergeant in Korea before coming back to the states to receive his commission. He's 35, married, father of three (two boys and a girl) and already a veteran of 17 years in the Marines.

The captain now is on order to Okinawa and will be back to Quantico after the national matches to move his family to California. He will then go to Tokyo for the Olympics before starting his new duty in Okinawa.

He hopes to take along with him some new honors won here - plus some gold from Tokyo.

The Sandusky Register (Ohio), Thursday, August 6, 1964, Page 21

Army NCO Wins Fifth National Pistol Crown

CAMP PERRY, Ohio (UPI) - Army SFC William B. Blankenship set two national match records as he blasted his way to an unprecedented fifth straight national pistol title at the National Rifle and Pistol Championships here.

Blankenship fired a 2,642-112 for all pistol events to beat out Air Force Capt. Thomas D. Smith of Lackland AFB, Tex., who was three points back with 2,639-132. In third place was Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Donald L. Hamilton, who fired 2,635-112.

Blankenship also won the national regular service championship.

The National Women's title was captured by Army Capt. Sallie L. E. Carroll, stationed in Orleans, France, and a member of the Army's European Region Pistol Team, who shot 2,517-061 to top defending champion, Air Force Capt. Gail N. Liberty.

Policeman E. W. Hilden of Oceanside, Calif., was the national police champion with a score of 2,586-090 score.

The National Reserve championship went to Sp4 Paul E. Boren of Norwalk, Calif., who fired 2,598-096. The National Guard title was won by Capt. Owen R. Helm Jr., Fresno, Calif., with 2,561-081.

The Senior championship went to Marine Col Walter R. Walsh, Quantico, Va., with 2,557-085; the civilian championship to Ramon Slupsky with 2,598-093; and the national collegiate title to Ronald D. Krelstein of Memphis, Ten., with 2,590-086.

Hamilton, the third place finisher in overall firing, also won the Navy title and was high among enlisted men of all services. Smith's second-place finish gave him the Air Force title.

Thursday the competition was in the slow, rapid, timed and national match courses for .45-cal pistols.

Huelet L. Benner postmaster from Corydon, Ind., won the timed fire match with a score of 200-15 with Air Force TSgt Alvin R. Merx, San Antonio, Tex., runner up, at 200-15, and Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert W. Parillo, a reservist, with 200-13, was third.

Marine SSgt Richard C. Van Cott, Quantico, Va., took the slow fire match with 196-06, followed by Marine Sgt Francis A. Higginson, also Quantico, 196-04, and Air Force Capt Thomas D. Smith, San Antonio, Tex.

Army Sgt. Robert E. Wilford, Ft. Benning, Ga., recorded 200-10 to win the rapid fire match. Army Sgt. Merriweather Jones, also Ft. Benning, had 199-12, and Army reserve SSgt Maurice G. Baum, Kirkland, Wash., 199-10.

Higher firer in the national match course was Capt. Thomas D. Smith, 295-18, with Army Sgt Paul S. McGiboney, from Sam Houston, Tex., second at 295-17 and Marine SSgt Van Cott rounding out the top three with 295-15.

Team championships in the .22-, .38- and .45-cal events will be decided Friday.

Stars & Stripes, August 9, 1964

Army Pistol Team Cops National Championships

BY SSGT LEE LA COMBE
Special to the Bayonet

The U.S. Army Pistol Team, paced by an outstanding effort by SFC William B. Blankenship, took Camp Perry and the National Pistol Championships by storm last week.

Blankenship became the only man in the history of the matches, dating back to 1903, to ever win five consecutive titles when he posted a three day aggregate score of 2642 out of a possible 2700.

Two days later he clinched his claim as best pistol shot in the country when he topped all competitors in the coveted National Trophy Individual Match with a 293-14X, only one point off the record set last year by Capt. William McMillan of the Marines.

Blankenship then returned to the firing line to anchor the Army Blue Team to victory in the National Trophy Team Match.

The four-man squad fought gusty winds and the challenge of a surprisingly strong Navy Team to take the match by three points, 1128 to 1125 for the sailors.

Firing on the team with Blankenship were Sgt. Emil Heugatter, SSgt. Charles Hubbard and SFC Robert Whitacre. MSgt. Mack Salmon was the team coach.

Blankenship is now within one victory of topping retired Army Sgt. Maj. Huelet "Joe" Benner and Harry Reeves, no retired from the Detroit Police Department, who were the only men to ever win six national titles.

Blankenship trailed by two points at the end of the first day of competition with the .22 cal. pistol, which was won by SFC Robert Whitacre with an 892.

The next day gusty winds up to 25 mph swept across Perry's famous range and when firing ceased Blankenship was in front of the pack by five points. His 876 total also gave him the Center Fire crown.

Capt. T. D. Smith of the U. S. Air Force made a strong run at Blankenship on the last day of the big shoot when he cracked out a record setting 889 out of 900 with the .45 cal. pistol, but he fell three points short and finished second with a 2539.

In the NRA Team Matches the Air Force successfully defended its title with a 3505 aggregate, one point short of the record which they set last year.

They also won the .22 match with an 1184, eight points more than the runnerup Army Blue squad, and the Center Fire match with an 1167, three points ahead of second place Navy.

The Marines took the .45 cal. event with an 1155, two points ahead of the Air Force.

The Army Blue was runner-up in the aggregate with a 3491.

The Bayonet, Fort Benning, Ga., August 14, 1964

Silver National Trophy Individual Pistol Medal