The Lost Letter.....

After graduation from Axtell (NE) High School in 1957, Gary enrolled in the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), joined ROTC, but only stayed two semesters.     He decided his best bet for top notch rifle training would be with the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, GA.     He  had no idea how his scores would stack up against other shooters.

He wrote a letter to Commanding Officer of AMU, COL Tom Sharpe and reported his scores, asking for a tryout for the USAMU International Rifle Team.  But the team leaders did not believe his scores, thought he was lying. For some reason,  COL Sharpe decided to take a chance on Gary and wrote back telling him he would get a 90-day tryout with the unit after enlisting.    

Gary with Col. Sharpe c. 1964

After Basic Training at Ft. Carson, CO,  Gary arrived at AMU, but was nearly derailed with orders to The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California.    COL Sharpe was able to circumvent Gary's orders and get him to Ft. Benning for a 90 day tryout.    His tryout with the team started with dry firing for 30 days.  At the end of the 30 days he was asked to shoot 40 shots standing.     His score turned out to be the second best score of the day and resulted in a permanent assignment to the unit before his tryout was over.

Gary remembers the letter COL Sharpe wrote him.  To date we have not found this letter and fear it has disappeared from our hands.  It is significant because COL Sharpe's decision to give Gary a tryout with the Army Team in spite of the advice he was getting turned out to be one of the great turning points in the history of shooting.

No coach, no team, no money.....

Gary and Buddy

Gary grew up in rural Nebraska. His father taught him how to hunt and how to handle a rifle safely. This is where and how Gary was first exposed to rifles.

Gary's dad, Roy, had a subscription to The American Rifleman Magazine (circa 1950's--the height of the Cold War) with a few articles about the Russians who dominated the 1954 World Championships and 1956 Olympic Games.   Gary was inspired by an article written by Anatoli Bogdanov, the greatest rifle shooter in the world in the 1950's.   The article talked about the importance of dry firing, so Gary improvised and went to work.   This is where and how Gary's belly began to burn with the dream of becoming an Olympic Champion in target shooting.

A little boy on a big tractor!

Throwing bales on the farm

C. 1957 - The Nebraska farm boy learns to shoot

 Gary was 14 years old when he decided he was going to do something with the Anderson name. About the time he was a senior in high school (age 17) he started training. Without benefit of proper equipment, gear, a coach, a range, a manual, a team (or the Internet) Gary taught himself how to shoot, using an old H&R model 65. There wasn't enough money for ammunition so Gary dry fired -- meaning going through all the motions of firing a shot, but without bullets. Once a week Roy would give him enough money to buy one box of bullets to practice "live fire." At age 25 his name was called to the Gold Medal Podium for winning the 300meter Rifle competition at the Tokyo Olympics (1964).   But that was merely the beginning of his Olympic and World Championship career.     And there are many stories of the journey to Tokyo.

The Target Behind the Blog

1. In 1971, my husband, Gary Anderson, set a record during the Navy Cup High Power Rifle Competition at Camp Perry, Ohio.  The Navy Cup competition is fired at 200 yards.    His score 200-15X means a perfect score (20 shots, scoring 10 points each,  with 15 of them in the exact center, or X-ring.)   It was the first 200 ever fired.   The facsimile of the target has been reproduced here.    Our son, Dr. Erik K. Anderson, also uses the facsimile of the target for the logo of his target scoring system business called Orion at www.orionscoringsystem.com.  The Navy Cup record was held by Gary Anderson for 40 years until 2011 when it was tied by Carl. R. Bernosky of Ashland, PA.     The original target is framed and on display in our home.