U. S. Marine Corps
1959 All Marine Corps Rifle & Pistol Matches

Lauchheimer Trophy Goal In Marine Corps Matches

Four former winners of the Lauchheimer Trophy - the highest award in Marine Corps shooting - will aim for the title again in the 1959 Marine Corps Matches next week.

The matches, to be held at Camp Matthews, will test 203 of the Corps' greatest marksmen. All survived Western, Eastern and Pacific Division competition to reach the Corps-wide event.

The Lauchheimer Trophy is awarded to the shooter firing the highest combined score with rifle and pistol in the Marine Corps Matches. Included in this year's field are Marine Corps Reserve Major Richard J. Hardaway, the 1958 Lauchheimer winner; Capt. William W. McMillan, the 1955 titlist; Capt. Stanley Millar, the 1957 champion; and Chief Warrant Officer Mark W. Billing, who took the trophy in 1940 as a PFC., and again in 1949 as a warrant officer.

The award is named in honor of Brig. Gen. Charles H. Lauchheimer, Adjutant and Inspector of the Marine Corps when he died in 1920.

Gen. Lauchheimer is credited with laying the foundations for annual post, division and Marine Corps competition-in-arms. He was the Corps' Inspector of Target Practice from 1899-1904.

Capt. McMillan placed second in both individual pistol and rifle matches in Western Division action, outgunning the old Marine Corps record in the pistol event.

CWO Billing took the 1959 Pacific Division's championship pistol team.

Maj. Hardaway in Western Division competition, won a certificate as a Distinguished pistol marksman.

Two other former Lauchheimer winners, Capt. Thomas R. Mitchell and Acting Master Sergeant Jewell Palmer, are shooting only the pistol in the 1959 matches.

The daily schedule during the Marine Corps Matches calls for individual rifle shooting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The individual pistol match will be held Thursday, the team rifle match next Friday and the team pistol competition Saturday, June 6.

Awards will be made the afternoon of June 6. The individual pistol champion will receive the Marine Corps Pistol Trophy, and the David S. McDougal Memorial Trophy will be presented to the individual rifle winner.

The McDougal award is named in honor of a world-famous Marine shooter killed on Okinawa in World War II. He was the son of Major General Douglas C. McDougal, USMC, retired.

Photo by ActSgt. B. J. Nereck, Jr.
MCRD Chevron, Friday, May 29, 1959

Mitchell Tops Rifle Shooters

Acting gunnery Sergeant V. D. Mitchell, 1958 National Service Rifle champion, fired 294 out of a possible 300 score yesterday at Camp Matthews to take a thin lead in the Marine Corps Individual Rifle Match.

Mitchell, from the Marksmanship Training Unit, Camp Matthews, needs only a 285 in today's final stage of rifle fire to break the Marine Corps match record of 578 out of a possible 600.

Only one point behind Mitchell yesterday were Acting Sergeant W. H. Leach, Jacksonville, Fla. Naval Air Station; Acting Staff Sergeant H. W. Hereford, Marine Corps Supply Center, Barstow, Calif., and Capt. William W. McMillan, Mitchell's MTU teammate. All shot 293.

Acting Gunnery Sergeant Michael Pietroforte, MTU, fired 20 consecutive bullseyes and a perfect 100 score from the 600-yard line. He is locked in a four-way tie for fifth place with 292.

San Diego Union, Wednesday, June 3, 1959

McMillan Breaks Marine Records

Capt. William W. McMillan, firing the rifle in competition this year for the first time since 1955, broke all existing Marine Corps rifle records yesterday at Camp Matthews, to win the David S. McDougal Memorial Trophy for the second time.

Capt. McMillan, who also won the McDougal award as Marine Corps rifle champion in 1955, now threatens to score a clean sweep in the 1959 Marine Corps matches. World pistol champion last year, the Marksmanship Training Unit shooter was the favorite as the matches moved into individual pistol shooting today.

Capt. McMillan, with his winning 589 score of a possible 600, led a pack of 19 shooters who topped the old Marine Corps Rifle Match record of 576. The mark was set only last year be Maj. Robert E. Dawson.

ActGySgt. V. D. Mitchell, also of MTU, battled the captain down to the last shot yesterday. Capt. McMillan had fired a 99 of a possible 100 at the 600-yard line and when Mitchell finished, his last shot cost him the match. He barely missed the bullseye, also giving him a two-day aggregate score of 589. But due to McMillan's better score on the final day, 296-295, the captain won the match. Ties are decided in favor of the shooter with the superior last-day score.

San Diego Union, Thursday, June 4, 1959

2 Pistol, Rifle Marks Set By Depot Shooter

Capt. William W. McMillan of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot set two Corps firing records yesterday in pistol competition for the Marine championships on the Camp Matthews Rifle Range.

McMillan, in firing a 580 out of 600 possible points and topping the old Marine mark by 13 points, established a new Marine Corps match record and garnered a new rifle-pistol aggregate record of 1169.

In competition Wednesday McMillan set the Corps rifle record with a score of 589, also 13 points ahead of the old mark.

Rifle and pistol team competitions begins today at Camp Matthews. The meet ends Saturday.

Marine officials said the public is invited to attend awards presentations at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Butler Hut at the Camp Matthews range, of Hwy. 101 at La Jolla Junction.

San Diego Union, Friday, June 5, 1959

McMillan Sweeps Corps Match

by PFC. Stanley Durk

Bulletin

For the first time in Corps history, a shooter has made a clean sweep of the Marine Corps individual matches. Capt. McMillan won the McDougal, Marine Corps Pistol and Lauchheimer trophies and shattered existing match records. He fired a record-breaking 580x600 with the pistol yesterday to win the "big three" in Corps Competition of Arms program.

Capt. William W. McMillan, firing the rifle in competition this year for the first time since 1955, broke all existing Marine Corps rifle records Wednesday at Camp Matthews, to win the David S. McDougal Memorial Trophy for the second time. The captain, who also won the McDougal award as Marine Corps rifle champion in 1955, threatened to score a clean sweep in th 1959 Corps Matches.

World Pistol champion last year, the Marksmanship Training Unit shooter was the favorite as the matches moved into individual pistol shooting yesterday.

Capt. McMillan, with his winning 589x600, led a pack of 19 shooters who topped the old Marine Corps Rifle Match record of 576. The mark was set only last year by Maj. Robert E. Dawson.

ActGySgt. V. D. Mitchell, MTU, battled the captain down to the last shot Wednesday. Capt. McMillan had fired a 99 of a possible 100 at the 600-yard line, and when Mitchell finished, his last shot cost him the match. He barely missed the bullseye, giving him also a two-day aggregate score of 589. Due to the captain's better score on the final day, 296-295, the captain won the match. (Ties are decided in favor of the shooter with the higher last-day score.)

Superior off-hand fire was a great factor in Capt. McMillan's close win. He outshot ActGySgt. Mitchell eacy day from the standing position, 97-98 to 95-96.

ActGySgt. Michael Pietroforte, the 1958 National Individual Rifle champ and the 1959 Western Division winner, took third with 587, to give MTU a 1-2-3 finish.

Sixteen other shooters also topped the old 576 record, and six more tied it.

Photo by ActSgt. B. J. Nereck Jr.
MCRD Chevron, Friday, June 5, 1959

Western Marines Sweep Records

West Coast Marines completed their sweep of all Marine Corps rifle and pistol match records yesterday at Camp Matthews, when the Western Division Red team fired a record 1,400 of a possible 1,500 score to capture the Inter-Division Pistol Team Championship.

the West Coast squad, paced by Acting Gunnery Sgt. Marlin W. Findsen of Force Troops, 29 Palms, edged the Pacific Division Gold team, whose 1,397 score also bettered the old mark of 1,382. The record was posted last year by an Eastern Division team.

Western Division shooters set a team rifle and pistol records, and Capt. William W. McMillan of the Marksmanship Training Unit, San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot, established individual marks with both weapons during the week-long Marine Corps shooting.

The matches ended yesterday, with champion shooters receiving awards from a host of Marine Corps generals, including Maj. Gen. T. A. Wornham, Commanding General, San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Lt. Gen. Vernon Megee, Commanding General, Pacific Fleet Marine Force, made the awards ceremonies closing remarks.

Sgt. Findsen topped the winning Western pistol team today with a 290 of a possible 300 score. His teammates were 1st Lt. Paul Shank, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, 276; 1st Lt. Haril W. Newton, 3rd Marine Air Wing, El Toro, 277; Acting Gunnery Sgt. R. E. Herrington, 1st Marine Division, 277; and Acting Staff Sgt. Don D. Thorne, San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 280.

Capt. Joe Taylor, 1st Marine Division, captained the squad. CWO Bynum Sutton, 3rd Marine Air Wing, was team coach.

Team results were Western Red, 1400; Pacific Gold, 1397; Eastern Gold, 1382; Eastern Green, 1381; Pacific Scarlet, 1376; Western Blue, 1373.

San Diego Union, Sunday, June 7, 1959

Rifle Mark Falls to McMillan

Capt. William W. McMillan, world pistol champion, won the Marine Corps rifle match today at Camp Matthews as he and 18 other shooters smashed the match record.

Capt. McMillan and V.D. Mitchell, acting gunnery sergeant who led yesterday, each finished with a score of 589 out of a possible 600. Ties are decided in favor of the shooter with the highest score on the final day of firing. Capt. McMillan outshot Mitchell today, 296-295.

The captain clinched the title on his last shot when he fired a five-point bullseye. Mitchell just missed the bulls eye and took a four.

The 589 total shattered the Marine Corps match record of 576, set last year by Maj. Robert E. Dawson, as well as all other existing Marine Corps records for any event.

Michael Pietroforte, acting gunnery sergeant, was third with 587 and also topped all previous records. Nineteen shooters bettered 576 and six others equaled that score.

Unknown news article, June, 1959

Marine Rifle And Pistol Aces Head East, Zero In On National Matches At Perry

by ActCpl. Wayne Woodlief

The Marine Corps' finest rifle and pistol marksmen in history are zeroed in on the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, July 27 - August 29, after breaking every record in sight in the 1959 Marine Corps Matches.

In a single week of shooting at Camp Matthews the Leatherneck aces accomplished unprecedented feats, which included:

New records in individual rifle, pistol and aggregate rifle-pistol competition. Nineteen men bettered the old rifle mark and seven topped the pistol record.

All competing units broke the rifle team mark, and two squads beat the team pistol record.

West Coast shooters swept all the championships.

The Marine Corps pistol team has already begun its trip east. Several shooters left almost immediately after Saturday's Marine Corps Match award ceremonies, en route to training matches at Quantico, Va., area.

The rifle team is scheduled to leave tomorrow for training at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Approximately 127 shooters comprise the two teams.

Capt. William W. McMillan, MTU, won the Marine Corps rifle and pistol championships last week and took the Lauchheimer Trophy for high combined score with both weapons. His history-making sweep included an 1169 Lauchheimer total which smashed the old record by 39 points and fell only 31 points short of a perfect score.

Although he was the World .38 caliber Pistol champion in 1958, this is the first time the captain captured the Marine Corps Pistol Trophy.

ActMSgt. L. J. Creech, I-I Staff, 14th Inf. Bn., San Antonio, Tex., with 1154; 1st Lt. James Roach, MCRD Parris Island, S.C., with 1147, were second and third respectively, in Lauchheimer competition.

The Lauchheimer, McDougal and Marine Corps Pistol Trophies will be retained this year at the Depot. A new policy permits the awards to be retained by the winning command instead of at Headquarters Marine Corps.

Three Depot Marines helped Western Division rifle and pistol team's established new records.

ActGySgt. Jose A. Lightbourne fired a 291x300 and Capt. R. F. Fisher a 287x300 as the Western Division's Blue team won the Inter-Division rifle championship with a 2882 total. The 10-man squad dropped only 118 points to crush the old match record by 63 points.

ActSSgt. Donald D. Thorne cranked off a 280x300 to help the Western Division's Red team to the Inter-Division pistol title. The six-man unit had to post a record 1400x1500 to edge the Pacific shooters' 1397 also bettered the old mark of 1382.

1st Lt. Paul J. Shank, 1stMarDiv., fired on both winning teams. He led the rifle squad with a 293 score and shot 277 with the pistol.

Depot shooters who placed high in the individual competition were:

Rifle: Sgt. L. T. Scoggins, 577, Distinguished Certificate; Thorne, 577, Distinguished Certificate; ActSSgt. Myron Lippe, 576, 2nd Silver.

Pistol: Thorne, 566, Distinguished Certificate; ActMSgt. Jewell Palmer, 561, Distinguished Certificate; ActGySgt. L. H. Johnson, 558, 1st Silver.

MCRD Chevron, Friday, June 12, 1959