U.S. International Tryouts
Preliminary & Final

Sharpe, Ex-EC Rifle King, Gains U.S. Olympic Spot

FORT SHERIDAN, Ill., June 27 (AP) - A U.S. Olympic rifle and pistol team, made up of five Marines, three Army men, two Air Force officers and three civilians, was selected today. A former EUCOM two-time rifle champ, Lt Col Thomas J. Sharpe, of Kansas City, Mo., was chosen as alternate.

(Sharpe won the individual rifle competition in the EC matches held at Grafenwoehr in 1947 and '48. in the latter year, Sharpe, then a major with the 14th Constab Regt, also captured the Gen Frank W. Milburn trophy in a separate match event.)

The team will leave for Europe next week to begin Olympic tune-ups. Selected during five days of firing from the field of 100, the team will compete in the Olympics at Helsinki as well as the International Shooting Union world championships at Oslo, Norway.

Pistol Squad Members

Named on the pistol squad were MSgt Huelet Benner, USA, American pistol champion from Panama; Maj Harry Reeves, USMCR, a Detroit police lieutenant; Lt Col Walter Walsh, USMC, Arlington, Va.; Sgt William McMillan, USMC, Turtle Creek, Pa.; Sgt. Andrew Devine, USMC, Shelby, N.C.; and Maj William Hancock, USA, Phoenix, Ariz.

The rifle squad is made up of Robert K. Sandager and Lt Col Emmett Swanson, USMCR, both from Minneapolis; Verle Wright, Indiana University junior from Fort Wayne; August Westergaar, Whiting, Iowa; Lt Arthur Jackson, USAF, Brooklyn, and Lt Arthur Cook, USAF, Washington, D.C.

Stars & Stripes, June 28, 1952

9 Marines On American Olympic Squad At Helsinki

Included on the American team that opens its bid for world-wide honors tomorrow at the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, are nine Marines, eight of whom are on active duty at the present time. The ninth, a reservist in the Platoon Leader's class, is perhaps the greatest athlete of all time - Bob Mathias.

A pair of MCRDep-based men help make up the Leatherneck delegation. Bill Miller and Edward McHugh are members of the American team that is expected to bring home more gold medals than any previous squad.

Miller ranks among the best javelin throwers in the world this year, and recently won the Olympic tryouts and the AAU title. McHugh is a member of the United States soccer team that has been training at St. Louis, Mo., for the past several months.

Mathias, who will represent America in the decathlon at the Games, expects to report on active duty as a second lieutenant a year from now after his graduation from Stanford University. When the husky Californian won the United States decathlon title this year he surpassed the record set by the mighty Jim Thorpe.

Pvt Henry C. Clifford, an officer candidate at Quantico and a former University of Pennsylvania athlete, is on the field hockey team.

SSgt William W. McMillan, a Camp Pendleton Marine, is on the American pistol shooting team; while Maj Harry W. Reeves, Headquarters, Marine Corps, is on both the rifle and pistol teams. LtCol Emmett O. Swanson, also of Headquarters, Marine Corps, is on the rifle team.

Two Marines are in the Olympics as track and field men, but are not running under American colors. Participating for Puerto Rico and Pfc Jaime Annexy-Fajardo of Camp Pendleton, who will compete in the hammer throw, and Pfc Frank Paniagua-Rivera of Camp Lejeune, who will compete in the 800 meter run.

Three outstanding shooters competed in the International Team firing at Oslo, Norway, July 7-12. LtCol Walter R. Walsh, Headquarters, Marine Corps; TSgt Walter L. Devine, Quantico; and 2ndLt Henry B. Stowers, Camp Lejeune, all fired in the International matches prior to the Olympics.

MCRD Chevron, Friday, July 18, 1952

Turtle Creek Marine Hits Bulls-Eye, Wins An Olympic Berth
Becomes World Titlist

One of the two best pistol marksmen in the United States.

That's the description Mr. and Mrs. William McMillan, of 1810 James Street, Turtle Creek, claim for their son. And they have the right, for three weeks ago William McMillan, Jr., a Marine Staff Sergeant, placed second in pistol shooting competition against the best marksmen in the country.

As a result of his showing in this event, the Olympic tryouts at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, Sergeant McMillan earned himself a trip to Europe to represent America in the upcoming Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland.

Right now the 23-year-old hot-shot is in Norway where he just placed fourth in an International match. On July 4, the American Ambassador to Norway feted the winning American team. On July 6, the King of Norway followed suit.

All this hoopla probably doesn't impress Sergeant McMillan too much. After winning 119 medals, 19 plaques, and eight trophies plus countless lesser prizes, he may be used to the excitement and spoils of victory.

Last year, at Harrisburg, Pa., he was a member of a four-man team that broke the world record for pistols. A few months later he helped the American team defeat Great Britain and Canada for the International title.

A few of Sergeant McMillan's honors are: The Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal - only 109 awarded in the Corps' history; United States Gold Medal; citation from General C. B. Cates, Marine Corps Supreme Commander; citation from General Hart, Quantico Base Commander, and a citation from the National Rifle Association.

That's right, the National Rifle Association. He's almost as good with the long-bore as he is with the pistol.

Don't get the idea the Sergeant has nothing to do but go after shooting trophies. That's a sideline. His regular duty for three years has been instructing recruits in the use of hand-held weapons. He has been stationed at Quantico, Va. and California.

Sergeant McMillan graduated from Turtle Creek High School in 1946. While in school he played baseball and football. Following his graduation he enlisted in the Marines for a year.

After his discharge he entered the Westinghouse apprentice program. He spent eight months with the firm, then reenlisted in the Marines - this time for five years. Last year he signed for six more.

Sergeant McMillan to return from the Olympics in time to compete in the National matches scheduled for Florida in Mid-August.

Judging from his past record it's pretty safe to bet he will turn a winner.

Unknown newspaper, July 1952

Turtle Creek Marine On U.S. Olympic Team

W. Willard McMillan Named No. 2 Man On Pistol Group Competing at Helsinki

By MYRON COPE
Post-Gasette Sports Writer

At least one Pittsburgh district member of the United States Olympic team is certain to go over with a bang at Helsinki.

He is W. Willard McMillan of Turtle Creek, and if you are one of those countless fans (well, maybe they can be counted) of the sport of pistol shooting, you will recognize the name as that of the Marine staff sergeant who, along with three teammates, set a new world team record a year ago at Harrisburg.

Their score was 1,157 out of 1,200, which is astonishing - I'm told.

First Competition in 1949

W. Willard is a 23-year-old gent with a hors d'oeuvre name and a beefsteak build. He looks like Marine sergeants should look, which is 6 feet 1 inch and more than 200 pounds.

In the event that you have heretofore not followed pistol doings with religious zeal, bear in mind that W. Willard never laid hands on a pistol until 1949 when the Marines sent him to Quantico, Va., to learn the use of the .45 automatic so he could be a better sentry at his post in the Brooklyn navy yard.

No sooner did they hand W. Willard a .45 at Quantico than he started firing almost as accurately as Gene Autrey, So Quantico kept him on.

A year later at the age of 21 he was improved to the point where he was awarded the Distinguished Pistol Shot Medal, the service's highest marksmanship citation and one which has been awarded to little more than 100 men since its inception in 1906.

More Than 150 Trophies

At any rate, the home of W. Willard's parents - Mr. and Mrs. W. Willard McMillan, Sr., of 1810 James Street, Turtle Creek - is now cluttered with more than 150 trophies and medals. And their son is No. 2 man on the U.S. pistol team now in Finland.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Monday, July 14, 1952, Page 19

Sharpshooter!

Turtle Creek Marine On Olympic Team

TURTLE CREEK - W. Willard McMillan, the 23-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Willard McMillan, Sr., of 1810 James Street, is the number two man on the U.S. pistol team now in Finland for the Olympics.

Willard is a Marine staff sergeant, whose amazing ability for shooting a pistol accurately was discovered when he had to learn to fire a .45 automatic fro sentry duty in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Since that time he has won the Distinguished Pistol Shot Medal, the service's highest marksmanship citation awarded to a few more than a hundred men since its inception in 1906, and the right to try out for the Olympics team which he easily made.

He has won 150 trophies and medals, and after his return from Helsinki may have more to add to that total.

Unknown newspaper, July 1952

Former Resident Of Borden Shaft Is Member Of Olympic Pistol Team

Willard McMillan, Jr. Competes in Finland

FROSTBURG - W. Willard McMillan, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Willard McMillan, former residents of Borden Shaft, who now reside in Turtle Creek, Pa., is now in Helsinki, Finland, a member of the United States Olympic team of pistol shooters.

Young McMillan is 23-years old, weighs 200 pounds, and is now in the armed forces serving as a Marine staff sergeant. About a year ago along with three teammates his team set a new world record at Harrisburg, Pa. Their score was 1,157 out of 1,200, which was regarded as an astonishingly high score.

According to a sports writer of the Pittsburg Post Gazette, McMillan never laid hands on a pistol until 1949 when the Marines sent him to Quantico, Va. to learn the use of the .45 automatic so he could be a better sentry at his post in the Brooklyn navy yard.

A year later at the age of 21 he was improved to the point where he was awarded the Distinguished Pistol Shot Medal, the service's highest marksmanship citation and one which has been awarded to little more than 100 men since its inception in 1906.

The home of young McMillan's parents at 1810 James Street, Turtle Creek, contains at the present time more than 150 trophies and medals won by their son, who is No. 2 man on the U.S. pistol team in Finland for the Olympiad.

Young McMillan is a grandson of the late William McMillan, for many years a prominent resident of the Georges Creek region, and whose home was at Borden Shaft.

Unknown newspaper, July 1952