The Last US Olympian To Win Gold In Pistol Was A Marine

By Miguel Ortiz We Are The Mighty

When asked who he considered the most promising pistol shot to be, Olympic gold medalist and West Point pistol coach Master Sgt. Huelet Benner identified a young Marine Lieutenant named William McMillan. Ironically, although McMillan would prove Benner right by going on to win his own Olympic gold medal and earn the nickname “Mr. World Pistol,” the Marine was a terrible pistol shot when he joined the Corps. Still, McMillan's successful record of pistol shooting is punctuated with the fact that he is the last member of the U.S. Olympic Team to take home a gold medal in a pistol shooting event.

McMillan was born in Frostburg, Maryland on January 29, 1929. After graduating high school in Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1946 and was posted to the Brooklyn Navy Yard where he stood watch at the base's only rifle sentry post. “I was the only one at Marine Barracks not qualified with the pistol so that was the only post I could stand,” McMillan told fellow Marine and newsman Staff Sgt. Saldana. Despite his poor pistol shooting, McMillan's excellent rifle marksmanship earned him a spot on the barracks team in the 1949 Eastern Division Matches at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

At the competition, a CWO Whittiker reportedly advised McMillan to shoot the pistol competition in the afternoon after rifle to avoid picking up brass on the range. While skating out of policing brass, McMillan shot a respectable 285×400 and became a pistol marksman. He continued building his pistol skills, shooting an average of 60 rounds daily. However, McMillan had to split his training between small and large-caliber weapons. Assigned to an anti-tank unit, McMillan also had to be proficient with the 75mm recoilless rifle. In response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea, McMillan went to the war with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.

In 1952, McMillan won gold as part of the 25m rapid-fire pistol team at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Championship in Oslo. This got McMillan to his Olympics, Helsinki 1952, where we placed 7th in 25m rapid fire pistol. Having risen to the rank of Staff Sergeant, McMillan traded his chevrons for a gold bar and commissioned as a Marine officer in 1953. In 1955, McMillan won the prestigious Lauchheimer Trophy, awarded the for highest aggregate score in the individual rifle and pistol competitions at the Marine Corps Matches at MCRD Parris Island. McMillan served at Parris Island as a recruit company officer until he was assigned to the Marine Corps' Marksmanship Training Unit.

McMillan continued to prove his pistol skills throughout the 1950s, taking home multiple silver and gold medals from the Pan American Games and ISSF World Championships. Unfortunately, McMillan missed out on the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia; his gun jammed twice during tryouts and McMillan was disqualified. “I felt bad because I was shooting good and about 20 points ahead,” he told a reporter for The Leatherneck in 1994. McMillan was on target in 1960 and joined Team USA for the Olympics in Rome. Making it to the final three-way shootout for gold in 25m rapid-fire pistol, McMillan took a nap before the shoot. Whether this unnerved his competitors, calmed the Marines' nerves, or perhaps a combination of the two factors, McMillan walked away with an Olympic gold medal. McMillan went on to compete in every summer Olympics through 1976, though he never finished better than 12th.

McMillan continued her service in the Marine Corps, including a tour to Vietnam as an ordnance officer in 1969, during which he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1974 as a Lieutenant Colonel and went to work for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department as a Weapons Training Coordinator. In May 1980, while conducting firearms training at Camp Elliott in San Diego, a sheriff's deputy accidentally shot McMillan twice in the chest with his service revolver. This cost the Olympian the use of the right side of his body and impaired his vision and ability to walk. Combined with President Jimmy Carter's order to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, McMillan's Olympic career was over. He passed away on June 10, 2000, at his home in Encinitas, California. Today, the Marine Corps awards the William McMillan Trophy to the Marine with the highest aggregate score at the Camp Perry shooting competition.

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