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Over
The Hill Gang at the 2001 National Matches
by
Robert L. Pruden
Camp Perry, Ohio – The Over The Hill Gang (OTHG) team
entered the 2001 National Pistol Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio.
This would be a test to see just how well they remember how to shoot.
The eyes didn't focus quite as well, and there were to be a few
creaks and pops anytime one of them got up from a lawn chair, but
they went. Hershel Anderson, Merriweather Jones, Ralph O. Thompson,
and Robert D. Whitacre did the shooting with Aubrey E. Smith
functioning as the Team Captain and Coach. The only match the OTHG
did not enter was the National Trophy Team Match. Reason: they
couldn't find a "New Shooter."
The OTHG assembled for a warm up match at a Regional in Wilmore,
Kentucky. Andy did right well firing a 2633-125 to take second. He
had an outstanding 886-50x in the .45 caliber aggregate. The team
took second in Center Fire, .45 caliber, and Team Aggregate. Smitty
made one of the longest trips of anybody to reach Perry. He returned
from Argentina to join the team.
At the National Matches Andy was the Civilian Champion with a 2621.
The OTHG won the .45 team match in the Clubs and Associations
category but the real fun was being at Camp Perry one more time.
Ralph said, "Our reception was amazing." Shooters stopped
and talked to them even when they were sitting behind the line
waiting, and they were asked to pose for pictures with them. They
were surprised that they were still remembered, but they really were.
Ralph told me, "They felt like a king for several days."
Bill Blankenship and Colonel Walsh (now 94) took them to dinner and
some story telling. They had a ball, and now they want to go back
next year! Want to come along? Are there any Service Rifle shooters
interested in forming a team?
The Over The Hill Gang started spontaneously in a couple of places.
Merriweather Jones sent me an e-mail in the fall of 2000 saying he
would like to get a group together and go shooting again. About the
same time, Don Whitacre had the same idea. At last fall's reunion
Aubrey Smith, Hershel Anderson, Don Whitacre and myself kicked the
idea around and we all decided to form a team. Ralph Thompson quickly
joined in when he heard about it, and we were off and running. We had
to have someplace to call "home" in the sense that we
needed a base – we were from Texas, Tennessee, Oregon,
Wisconsin, Georgia and Kentucky – where we could be organized.
Since I had already done this sort of thing in Kentucky, we decided
to incorporate. We became the Over The Hill Gang – a Kentucky
nonprofit corporation. We set the rules for membership so that
anybody who has ever been assigned as permanent party with the Army
Marksmanship Unit (whatever it might have been called at the time)
and is sixty or older is eligible. We set the dues as minimal, $10
for life membership. You get a laminated membership card to show you
are part of this mature group. You can tell we're mature because we
have a dinosaur on the membership card!
The purpose of incorporation is to provide an umbrella that covers
anybody who would like to try shooting again. In order to compete as
a team, all members have to be members of an organization that is
affiliated with the National Rifle Association. Well, the Over The
Hill Gang is such an affiliate. So all members of the Over The Hill
Gang can compete in any NRA competition as a team. This includes
rifle and pistol events. If any rifle shooters would like to get
together to compete at Perry or anyplace else under the banner of the
Over The Hill Gang, just sign up.
There is one special little item about the Over The Hill Gang, and
this is truly special. Since we are a "War Veterans"
organization, all contributions to the organization are tax
deductible. That's right, tax deductible. Hint! Any contributions you
make to the Over The Hill Gang Corporation, which are subsequently
used to pay entry fees, are deductible as charitable contributions if
you itemize deductions on your income tax return. Think about this
and then send your contribution. The stipulation is that the
corporation has to use the contribution for entry fees.
What makes us a "War Veterans" organization? Well, if 90
percent of the members have served on active duty during WW II, the
Korean War or in Vietnam, the organization qualifies (Actually
service in the Spanish- American War or WW I also qualifies). Since
you have to be 60 or older to be a member, the chances are you served
during at least one of these periods.
The umbrella of OTHG, Inc., is broad enough to cover any former
permanent party member of the AMU who is age 60 or more. If there is
any group of rifle shooters who want to get together as a team,
they're as welcome as the flowers in May. It costs only $10 to become
a life member of OTHG, Inc. Membership applications are available for
the asking. The address is 116 Rocky Lane, Owingsville, KY 40360-9052. |
