November 15, 2002
Joe Sledge, The Walking Rifleman: one good reason I detest wimps
Last night, I picked up a paper copy of the 2003 Guns & Ammo ANNUAL, and immediately turned it to the collection of Cooperisms on pp90-91.
Perseverance In our recent rifle class at Whittington, a student showed up whose right arm had been amputated about 8 inches down from the shoulder. I certainly could not have shown him how to operate his rifle with that handicap, since I simply do not know how it is done - but he did it. He used an extendable bipod without a sling, but worked the bolt with his stump. It was an inspiring performance, and renewed our faith in the human spirit.
The G&A reprint entry is listed as having been run December 1997, but the Colonel first published it in his Commentaries of May 1997 (Vol. 5, No. 6, "The Rites of Spring"), which I'm sure is accounted for by the necessity of lead time for the reprint version.
All I wanted to add to the Colonel's commentaries is that I had the pleasure of training alongside this student in a later evolution of the same course, in September 1998 at the NRA Whittington Center. The gentleman is Joe Sledge... a great and manly name he has, and was the subject of all our admiration. He shot well - better than many of us - and to my recollection was tuning up for a trip to Africa, where everything bites or has claws.
Mr. Sledge's poem "The Walking Rifleman" can be found in the Colonel's Commentaries of May 1997 (Vol. 5, No. 12, "Hunting Season").
By the way, Mr. Sledge, if you're reading this: did you really make that trip to Africa wearing shorts? How'd the skin on your legs hold up? Enquiring minds want to know...
Posted by Russell Whitaker at November 15, 2002 12:15 PM | TrackBack