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Medal of Honor Distinguished Shooters

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Rifle Pointer
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Minuteman
Apr 16, 2002
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Distinguished Medal Of Honor Recipients
by Hap Rocketto | August 29, 2012 |


When I first began filling out what seemed like a never ending series of card stock 10 ½ by eight inch DA Form 1344s, the official name of which is “Entry and Score Card for NBRP Individual Service Rifle Match” there was an old wives tale existing that there were more individuals who were authorized to wear the Medal of Honor than those who had pinned on a Distinguished Badge.

What gave the story a patina of truth was that Army Regulations dealt with the possession of both awards in a similar manner. Each was to be held ready for inspection at anytime by competent authority. It made sense as the Medal of Honor is an award to be protected and, in those days, the Distinguished Badge was real gold.

The powers that be probably held that George Washington’s apocryphal statement, “Enlisted men are stupid, but extremely cunning and sly, and bear considerable watching” was true. They certainly didn’t want a hard holding, but poorly paid and thirsty trooper, pawning or selling such a valuable award to slake his thirst at the sutler’s canteen.

It turned out that there was another kernel of truth in the rumor. At the time, when there were more than 3,000 Medal of Honors awarded, civilians combined for less than a thousand rifle and pistol Badges. So, in that sense, there were more Medal of Honor recipients than Distinguished Riflemen and Pistol shots, if only civilians were counted.

There are only four men, known to me, who are authorized to wear both the nation’s highest award for valor and marksmanship skills. One hot July day in 1872 a small detachment Company F of the 5th United States Calvary was engaged by 40 Apaches. Private John Nihill was detailed to cover the group’s withdrawal, an action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Nihill continued his military career and in 1882 earned a place on the Department of the Platte Rifle Team. Three years later he was awarded the Distinguished Marksman Badge, making him the first recipient of both awards.

Sergeant Benjamin Brown, of Company C 24th United States Infantry, was part of an escort protecting Paymaster Major Joseph W. Wham on May 11, 1889 in the Arizona Territory. Between Fort Grant and Fort Thomas, near Cedar Springs, they were attacked by bandits and in the ensuing battle Brown was shot through the abdomen. He continued his spirited defense of the payroll until wounded through both arms. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He earned Distinguished Marksmen designation in 1890, and three years later the Cleveland Gazette, in the February 18, 1893 edition, reported that he was one of the best marksmen in the Army.

Nearly a half century later, on the night of September 12, 1942, Marine Colonel Merritt Edson deployed his Raider Battalion, the Marine’s First Parachute Battalion, and some engineers and artillery crews along a ridgeline a mile south of Henderson Airfield on the hotly contested island of Guadalcanal and had them dig in. “Red Mike” Edson was no stranger to either combat or rifle shooting. During the 1920s and 1930s he won a Navy Cross fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua during the “Banana Wars” and a Distinguished Marksman Badge on various rifle ranges. His leadership skills were also evident as he took over a mediocre 1929 Marine Rifle Team and won back to back National Championships with it in 1930 and 1931.

Over the next two nights some 3,500 battle hardened Japanese infantry fell upon the thinly manned Marine lines for six major assaults. The enemy was so close that aircraft took off from Henderson Field, dropped their bombs, and landed, never having enough time to raise their landing gear. Edson’s conduct of the defense exhibited tactical expertise, command presence, and personal courage for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

The Japanese commander at Tarawa, Admiral Meicho Shibasaki, said that “A million Americans couldn’t take Tarawa in 100 years”. Fourteen months after Edson’s stand on Guadalcanal Marines under Colonel David Monroe, Shoup would prove Shibasaki wrong, but at a terrible price.

After having his landing craft shot out from underneath him, getting wounded, and wading through the surf like most of the rest of his troops he took command of all troops ashore, rallying the ragged survivors of the first waves on the beach. Shoup’s brilliant performance was recognized by award of the Medal of Honor.

Shoup had shot pistol for the Marines in the 1930s and had earned two legs. After the war, as a senior colonel he knew his opportunity to participate in major competition in the future would be slim. Determined to earn his last leg he found enough free time in his busy schedule to brush up his skills with the service pistol. His work ethic paid off and he pinned on the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in 1946.

By a twist of fate Shoup was relieved on Tarawa by a more senior colonel named Merritt Edson.

Any member of the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, or Air Force who is awarded the Medal of Honor is truly distinguished, however Nihill, Brown, Edson, and Shoup are just a bit more Distinguished than the rest.



About the Author: Hap Rocketto is a Distinguished Rifleman with service and smallbore rifle, member of The Presidents Hundred, and the National Guard’s Chief’s 50. He is a National Smallbore Record holder, a member of the 1600 Club and the Connecticut Shooters’ Hall Of fame. He was the 2002 Intermediate Senior Three Position National Smallbore Rifle Champion, a member of the 2007 National Four Position Indoor Championship team, coach and captain of the US Drew Cup Team, and adjutant of the 2009 Robert Team. Rocketto is very active in coaching juniors. A historian of the shooting sports, his work regularly appears in Shooting Sports USA, Precision Shooting, The Outdoor Message, the American Rifleman, the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s website, and most recently, the apogee of his literary career, pronematch.com.
 
Distinguished Knows No Rank
by Hap Rocketto | June 13, 2012 |


It is interesting to note that 34 general and flag officers account for 28 Rifle, eight Pistol, and three International Distinguished Badges. But only one officer who has worn stars earned the Badge after World War II. Commandant of the Marine Corps General David M. Shoup pinned on the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge as a colonel in 1946.

It now seems that what was once a boost to an officer’s career, a prestigious appointment to a service or branch shooting team, the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, or Air Service, at Camp Perry before the Second World War has now become a pothole on the road to the highest ranks.

There is no rank on the range and found this to be true when I was updating the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Distinguished data base. Service shooters from the lowest enlisted rank to the highest field grade commissioned officer all have earned the Badge, many going on to great fame.

Second Lieutenant John J. Pershing went Distinguished in 1891 and rose to be the second highest ranking officer in US military history as General of the Armies-only George Washington has a higher precedence number. Lyman Lemnitzer was Distinguished as a “Shavetail” and ended his career as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Marine Second Lieutenant Thomas Holcomb became Commandant and the first Marine to don four stars. Second Lieutenant Oscar Westover was a major general when he headed the Army Air Corps.

First Lieutenant Hugh Casey became Douglas MacArthur’s chief engineer in the Pacific, retiring as a major general. Former First Lieutenant Joseph Mauborgne became a major general as Army Chief of Signals. Holger Toftoy earned his Distinguished Pistol Badge as a young lieutenant and retired as a major general, largely responsible for the early success of the Army’s missile program.

Perhaps the two greatest ascending shooting stars were Sergeant Courtney Hicks Hodges and Staff Sergeant Chester E. McCarty. Hodges wore four stars when he retired and McCarty, who earned his Badge in the Army, had three on his epaulets when his career ended as an Air Force Officer.

Deep within my chest beats the heart of an enlisted man and I take pride in the many thousands of fellow private soldiers and non commissioned soldires who are Distinguished. They rank from private to sergeant major but I truly treasure the grades held by the men who earned the Badge in the eras of the .45-70, Krag, and ’03. Those were the days when the cavalry rode, fed, and curried horses. Aeroplanes were covered with doped canvas and had open cockpits and wooden propellers. There was no mechanization; the Infantry walked. They held specific positions to the branch. The Cavalry had Trumpeters, Musicians, Saddlers, Farriers, and Blacksmiths. Other branches had Artificers, Cooks, Chief Engineers, Quartermaster, Commissary and Ordnance Sergeants and even a General Service Messenger.

Most of the early Distinguished shooters were privates, private first class-the so called “high private’-corporal, and sergeants. There were a smattering of Staff, Technical, and First Sergeants with an occasional Master Sergeant and Sergeant Major. But, it was mostly the lowest grades, not unusual at a time in an army so small it might take two or three enlistments to earn a set of stripes, who did the shooting.

For them it was more than just pride in the most basic of military skills. It was financial. When money was available from a tight-fisted Congress, qualifying as Sharpshooter or Expert meant three or five dollars more a month. It was big money in the years when a private earned 21 dollars a month. The pay allowed the genteelly destitute soldier an extra bag of Bull Durham and rolling papers, a few extra nickel beers, or a handful of ten cent tickets for a turn with a favorite “Taxi” dancer at the local dance hall.

The many men and women, commissioned and non-commissioned, who can truly be called Distinguished when referring to both their skill with the service arm and military career are, by and large enlisted, reminding me of an incident I observed as a young sergeant. We were shooting the All Army Championship in the mid 1970s. It was hot and humid as only Fort Benning can be in the early summer. A group of retirees and their wives were observing the matches at Easley Range, named in honor of Distinguished Marksman Brigadier General Claudius, “Spec” Miller Easley, killed directing fire on Okinawa on June 19, 1945.

We had just finished the 600 yard line and were stripping off our heavy leather shooting coats and sodden sweatshirts, wiping our brows, and downing huge draughts of cool water when a retiree's wife asked the shooter next to me, a soldier of many years, stripes, and experience, the likes of a Jack Hider, Arpad Tamas, or maybe Earl Waterman, a question.

“Sergeant,” she said. “it is frightfully hot and humid today and you look about done in. Is this really fun?”

The old soldier, his short dark hair ironed flat by sweat and his hat, looked at her, capped his canteen, wiped a few errant drops of water from his chin with the back of his hand, smiled, and replied, “It must be fun Ma’am. They let the officers do it.”
 
I can relate to marksmanship being a career killer for officers. I had more then one Oer stating I waisted too much time on it.

It's a shame but its a choice I made and I don't regret it one bit.
 
One could argue...if they were so inclined...that the falling out of favor of the distinguished marksman badge in the officer cadre is indicative of a much more sinister transition of what is expected and desired by "senior leadership" of middle management (i.e. junior officers, and even senior enlisted leadership). More in favor is joint interoperability and doctrine, appropriate risk evaluation and above and beyond all else the inability to make a mistake throughout the duration of a career. Gone are the days when Nimitz could run ships aground and have an entire class of aircraft carriers named after him. It isn't all wrong...but a tenant of truly good leadership, that you never ask of someone something that you are unwilling and/or unable to do yourself is being eroded. Granted we are a different military organization than back in the "simpler times", and I would never trust myself to fix the helicopter I fly myself, but there is definitely something to be said for understanding what it takes to do the job you're asking of someone in order to really appreciate what is you're really asking of that individual.

On the upside, I believe the only reason "senior leadership" has the luxury of shifting the expectations of junior officers and senior enlisted is the quality and ability of the current generation of enlisted serviceman/woman...There is the timeless argument that the new kids just aren't as tough/good/respectful as "we" were...which might be true, but they are, by and large, more capable, more highly skilled and trained than "we" were, which has enabled middle management to worry about bigger picture crap and keeps them off the rifle/pistol ranges and tied to email accounts. It is also what has engendered the ever shrinking "gap" between officer and enlisted...making us all look more like the Air Force and Coast Guard...come on, I couldn't NOT take a cheap shot in there!!