14th Annual Flamingo Open
Pistol Tournament

Benner, Reeves In Pistol Shoot

One hundred leading small arms marksmen of the United States, Canada and Cuba are expected to compete in the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol tournament here March 20-23.

Among them will be Joe Benner, United States Army, stationed at Fort Knox, Ky., 1949 world champion, and Sgt. Harry Reeves of the Detroit, Mich. police.

The famous Detroit police pistol team has entered five other shooters, including Inspector Marvin Driver, Maurice La Londe, Al Henning, John W. Porter and John MacIntyre.

Other entries include Wayne Welty, Lincon, Neb.; Thomas B. Parks, Dallas, Texas; Boyd Cherry, Norwalk, Conn.; William H. Lux, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Bruce Whitelaw, Louisville, Ky.

The Miami News, Miami, Florida, Tuesday, March 13, 1951, Page 2B

REEVES STAR, PISTOL SHOOT IN SECOND DAY

Four center fire matches drew the attention of the boomers today as the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol Tournament entered its second round this morning.

Detroit Policeman Harry Reeves led the marksmen yesterday, walking off with the D. E. Sox trophy. Sgt. Joe Benner, rated as the world's top shooter, was forced to withdraw from the tourney when received orders to return to Fort Knox. Benner took the trophy for the last two years.

Reeves chalked up an aggregate of 856 in the master class with victories in the slow fire and timed fire and a second in the national match course heat.

Quantico Marine M-Sgt. Thomas Mitchell finished second in the trophy test with 842, Capt. John Jagoda, Quantico Marine, and Sgt. William McMillan, also of Quantico, dead heated for third with 841. Jagoda took third place by a count of the rapid fire shooting.

Virginia Fontanella of Miami copped first place in the expert class of the timed fire match with 193. Another local boomer who registered a first place was Dr. Paul V. Dunn who posted 183 in the timed fire.

Source: Miami Daily News, Wednesday, March 21, 1951

REEVES WINS TWO MORE FLAMINGO OPEN TITLES

Harry Reeves, Detroit policeman, proclaimed the second outstanding shot in the world, took titles this morning in slow fire aggregate and the .45 caliber slow fire in the Miami-Flamingo Open pistol shoot at the Coral Gables police range.

Reeves shot 561 in the slow fire aggregate and a 188 in the .45 caliber competition.

Winner of the .45 caliber time fire was M-Sgt. T. R. Mitchell of the United States Marines with a 195. Expert winner was Major T. C. Harvie of the 11th Airborne Division with a 192. Sharpshooting honors went to Ben F. Bledsoe with a 192. Marksman was Thomas Harris of Miami who had a 175.

Expert winner in the slow fire aggregate and the .45 caliber slow fire was Sgt. H. W. Barney of the U.S. Marines with 540 and 183, respectively. Cuban Policeman Jose R. Rodriguez won the sharpshooting division of the aggregate with a 501. Donald Lewis copped the marksman's title with a 480.

In the .45 caliber slow fire, Lt. Rafael Codalso, Cuban policeman, took sharpshooting honors with 167. Rodriguez nabbed the marksman's title with 162.

The all-around and Tamiami championships also were at stake today.

In yesterday's firing, local talent towed the mark with Norman Crouch and Virginia Fontanella playing the feature roles at the Coral Gables Pistol range. Mrs. Fontanella, who has been a champion for the last two years, tallied a grand total of 1,594 points in eight matches to cop the women's title and the Hasta Manana trophy.

Crouch, a Coral Gables policeman, outshot the nation's leading pistoleers, taking the Ray E. Dodge trophy with an aggregate of 854 points in the master class.

Source: The Miami News, Wednesday, March 21, 1951

PISTOL SHOOT IN THIRD DAY

The all-around and Tamiami championships were at stake today as the Miami-Flamingo pistol shoot entered its third day.

The all-around title was set for the shooter with the highest number of points run up in the three days while the Tamiami championship was to be a compilation of the totals of this and the Tampa shoots.

In yesterday's firing, local talent towed the mark with Norman Crouch and Virginia Fontanella playing the feature roles at the Coral Gables Pistol range. Mrs. Fontanella, who has been a champion for the last two years, tallied a grand total of 1,594 points in eight matches to cop the women's title and the Hasta Manana trophy.

Crouch, a Coral Gables policeman, outshot the nation's leading pistoleers, taking the Ray E. Dodge trophy with an aggregate of 854 points in the master class.

Another local shooter, Dr. Paul V. Dunn, took the marksman class in the Dodge trophy match, collecting 761 markers. Gables policeman Floyd J. Neff, 836, took third place in the expert division of the trophy match with 836. The match was won by Quantico Marine Sgt. William McMillan with 842 points.

Crouch gained the spotlight in yesterday's session, winning the timed fire event with 198 and shooting a 194 to win the rapid fire contest.

Harry Reeves of Detroit, Tuesday's trophy winner, won the slow fire match with 188 and Lt. Col. Walter Walsh, Quantico, took the National Match Course with 288.

Source: The Miami News, Thursday, March, 22, 1951

Reeves Pacesetter, Shoot in Final Day

Harry Reeves continued to dominate the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol tournament as the test entered its fourth and final day this morning.

The Detroit policeman registered victories in four of the eight events yesterday, including triumphs in the day's top two features.

Reeves walked off with the City of Coral Gables trophy for the all-around championship with a 2,547 tally. He also copped the Tamiami championship for the Clement L. Theed Memorial award. Harry took the Tamiami, a grand aggregate of the National Mid-Winter session last week at Tampa with 5, 131.

Other wins for Reeves came in the .45 caliber slow fire, 188, and in the slow-fire aggregate, 561.

Source: The Miami News, Friday, March 23, 1951

Marine Team Cops Pistol Headliner

A sharpshooting Gold team from The Marine Corps Schools in Quantico, Va. captured the featured three squad matches as the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol tournament closed yesterday at the Coral Gables Police range.

Making up the winning team were Lt. Col. Walter Walsh, Capt. John M. Jagoda, M-Sgt. Thomas R. Mitchell and Sgt. William W. McMillan.

The Marine marksmen won the .22 caliber, four-man team match for the Taylor Sport Shop memento, the center fire heat and the 45 caliber match for the Lindley de Garmo Post No. 70 American Legion Trophy.

The Detroit police, led by Harry Reeves, finished second in each event.

Floyd J. Neff, a member of the Coral Gables police team, was victorious in the center fire Camp Perry test with 297.

The boomers received their awards at a dinner-dance last night at the Palmetto Pistol club.

Source: The Miami News, Saturday, March 24, 1951

MCS Team Wins 15 Events In Florida Pistol Matches

Members of the Marine Corps Schools Pistol Team took first place in 15 of the 45 events in the National Mid-Winter Pistol Tournament at Tampa, Florida, from March 13 to 17 and the Miami-Flamingo Open Pistol Tournament at Coral Gables, Florida, from March 20 to 23.

Of the seven team matches in the two tournaments the MCS team took first place in five, second in one and third in the remaining match and in the 38 individual events they won first honors in ten.

Eight Quantico Marines were among the 250 participants in the National Mid-Winter Tournament and the same eight competed with 90 shooters in the Miami-Flamingo Tournament.

In the individual events Master Sgt. T. R. Mitchell placed first in four, Capt. J. M. Jagoda took two events, Lt. Col. W. R. Walsh won two, Master Sergeant Plante copped one and Sergeant McMillan also took one event.

At Tampa Sergeant Mitchell won the .22 cal. slow fire event with a score of 188 out of a possible 200 and the .45 cal. timed fire with 199 out of 200. At Coral Gables he again took the top honors in the .45 cal. timed fire event, this time with 195 out of 200, and he won the .45 cal. aggregate with 844 out of 900.

Captain Jagoda won the .45 cal. National Match Course event at Tampa with 289 out of 300 and at Coral Gables with 284 out of 300. Colonel Walsh won the Baldwin Trophy (.22 cal. National Match Course) 289 out of 300 and the Tompkins Memorial Trophy (.38 cal. National Match Course) 288 out of 300, at Coral Gables, Sergeant Plante took .45 cal. rapid fire, 191 out of 200, at Coral Gables and .22 cal. Camp Perry Course Match was won by Sergeant McMillan, 299 out of 300, also at Coral Gables.

In the team matches at Tampa, the MCS team took first honors in the .38 cal National Match Course, 1130 out of 1200, and the .45 cal. National Match Course, 1124 out of 1200. They placed second to the Detroit Police Team with a score of 1173 out of 1200. The MCS men also took third spot in the .22 cal. National Match Course, 1139 out of 1200.

At Coral Gables they took first place in three team matches, .22 cal. National Match Course, 1145 out of 1200; .38 cal. National Match Course, 1123 out of 1200; and .45 cal. National Match Course, 1111 out of 1200. Detroit placed second in all three matches.

Some of the teams that participated and were hampered by windy weather were: Marine Corps Schools, Detroit Police, San Francisco Police, South Bend Police, Cherry Point Marines, 11th Airborne Division, Naval Air Station, Grosse Isle, Michigan; Army shooters from Fort Benning and Camp Gordon, and State Police teams of Indiana and North Carolina.

Quantico Sentry, March 29, 1951