17-7-31 Garand Picture of the Day

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Two of the top shooters in the Marine Corps, 2ndLt. William W. McMillan (left), and LtCol. Walter R. Walsh, compare scores following a practice session prior to the opening of the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Matches here. Lt. McMillan, a member of the 1952 American Olympic Team, shoots with Parris Island Marine team. Colonel Walsh, was the National Match Rifle Champion in 1952, and is shooting on the 2nd Marine Division Team.

Photo by MSgt. A. L. Bender
Quantico Sentry, May 27, 1954

Bill McMillan; won gold medal for shooting at 1960 Olympics

By Jack Williams
STAFF WRITER

Like a true Olympic champion, Bill McMillan performed best when he was under the gun.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, before a three-man shoot-off for the gold medal in rapid-fire pistol shooting, Mr. McMillan stunned his rivals by taking a nap.

"I think it kind of unnerved the other shooter," he said.

In any case, it seemed to energize Mr. McMillan, who won the shoot-off after the two-hour break, the high point of a shooting career marked by six Olympic appearances and world and national championships.

Mr. McMillan died of congestive heart failure June 10 at his home in Encinitas. He was 71.

A former Weapons Coordinator for the county Sheriff's Department, Mr. McMillan had been disabled since an accidental shooting in May 1980 in a Sheriff's firearms training exercise.

He was hit twice in the chest by bullets from a .357-caliber Magnum pistol, fired by another deputy at the Camp Elliott range. "He lost the use of his right side, had difficulty walking and vision problems," said his son, Matthew.

Mr. McMillan, who was right-handed, was never able to shoot or teach his specialty again.

Before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan prompted President Carter to order a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Mr. McMillan hoped to land a U.S.-record seventh Olympic berth.

Although the injuries cut short his competitive career, Mr. McMillan expressed no bitterness. "Of course, you never this to happen to anybody, but if it had to happen, I'm glad it had to happen on the downside of my prowess," he told The Tribune in 1985.

Before the injury, he had told a reporter that he felt he could stay competitive for several more years. "I've never reached my potential because I haven't competed regularly enough," he said.

By the time he was disabled, Mr. McMillan's shooting career already had been distinguished by its longevity in a sport dominated by young Russians and East Germans. "I'm competing against the sons of men I faced years ago," he told The Tribune in 1980. "I'm in the twilight zone."

Mr. McMillan's three decades of dominance in the sport led to his induction into the U.S. International Shooting Hall of Fame in Dallas. In 1981, he was enshrined in the Breitbard Hall of Fame for elite San Diego athletes at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

In his finest hour at the 1960 Olympics, Mr. McMillan shot 587 out of a possible 600, tying the world record at the time. It wasn't his high score - he once shot a 594 - but it was the ultimate in pressure performances.

Contesting a Russian and a Finn for the gold medal after a three-way tie, he maintained the relaxation vital to excelling in his sport. "The Russian was pretty uptight, pacing up and down," he later recalled.

Meanwhile, Mr. McMillan, who felt at his best after no more than five hours of sleep the night before an important competition, enjoyed a short catnap.

Mr. McMillan, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, began competing in 1949 in the military. "It just turned out that I was a natural," he said.

He finished seventh in his first Olympics - 1952 in Helsinki, Finland - and showed his versatility by winning an all-Marine rifle championship in 1955 at Parris Island, S.C.

Mr. McMillan was denied a berth in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, by a mechanical failure.

"My gun jammed twice during the tryouts and I was disqualified," he told a reporter for The Leatherneck in 1994. "I felt bad because I was shooting good and about 20 points ahead."

He won the world championships in 1954 and 1958 and a national title in 1957.

Mr. McMillan was born William W. McMillan Jr. in Frostburg, Md., grew up in Turtle Creek, Pa. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school.

He served as an infantryman in the Korean War and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1953.

In 1969, as an ordnance officer in Vietnam, he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Upon retiring from active service in 1974, Mr. McMillan joined the county Sheriff's Department as Weapons Training Coordinator.

In that capacity, he designed the department's first shootout scenarios for training, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Ron Reina. "Shoot-or-don't-shoot scenarios, we call them," Reina said.

Mr. McMillan also made recommendations for body armor, short-barreled shotguns and ammunition for patrol vehicles during his nearly seven years with the department.

He is survived by a daughter, Karen McMillan of Carlsbad; sons, Matthew of Escondido and Billy of San Diego; and a sister, Clara Szumetz of Hagerstown, Md.

Cremation was planned, followed by private inurnment at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Donations are suggested to the Association for Retarded Citizens, 1550 Hotel Circle North, Suite 410, San Diego, CA 92108.


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Walter Walsh, aged 101, attends the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 100th anniversary gathering in 2008

Colonel Walter Rudolph Walsh (May 4, 1907 – April 29, 2014) was an FBI agent, USMC shooting instructor and Olympic shooter. Walsh joined the FBI in 1934, serving during the Public enemy era, and was involved in several high-profile FBI cases, including the capture of Arthur Barker and the killing of Al Brady. He served in the Pacific theatre during World War II with the Marine Corps and, after a brief return to the FBI, served as a shooting instructor with the Marine Corps until his retirement in the 1970s.

A high-profile shooter, Walsh won numerous tournaments within the FBI and the Marine Corps, as well as nationally, and participated in the 1948 Summer Olympics. He received awards for his marksmanship until the age of 90 and served as the coach of the Olympic shooting team until 2000. At the FBI's 100th anniversary celebration he was recognized as the oldest living former agent and noted as being a year older than the organization itself. Aside from some hearing and memory loss, he remained physically fit at his 103rd birthday and, in March 2013, became the longest-lived Olympic competitor.