Sergeant Major Huelet Leo "Joe" Benner (November 1, 1917 – December 12, 1999) was an American multi-discipline pistol shooter during what many consider the golden era of international and national competition (post-World War II through the mid-1960s). He was a member of three U.S. Olympic teams (1948, 1952, and 1956).

Career

At the 1949 World Championships at Buenos Aires, Argentina, he won the 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol title. 1952 was particularly a banner year for Benner. In Oslo, Norway in July, he again won the World Championship in the 25 meter Rapid Fire match, setting a new world record in the process. Later that same month, he took Olympic Gold in the

50 metre pistol The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to th ...

event (then known as Free Pistol) at Helsinki, Finland. At the 1954 World Championships in Caracas, Venezuela, he won the 50 meter Free Pistol title, and also took the silver in the 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol event. He competed in two Pan American Games (1951 and 1955) winning the Rapid Fire Pistol event in 1951 and the Center Fire Pistol event in 1955. Overall, during his 11 years of international competition, Benner won 13 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals and set two individual and two team world records. He earned the U.S. Army Distinguished Pistol Badge in 1940, and was retroactively awarded the United States Distinguished International Shooter Badge for his 1949 World Shooting Championships gold medal performance. MSG Benner was All-Army Pistol Champion an astounding 15 times, and NRA National Pistol Champion 6 times. He also served from 1953 to 1963 as the Pistol Coach at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York. In 1975, Joe Benner testified before the House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Crime regarding firearms legislation. He is a member of both the U.S. International Shooting Hall of Fame, and the

U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit The United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU or AMU) is a part of U.S. Army providing small arms marksmanship training for soldiers and enhancing Army recruiting. The unit was originally established in 1956 at the direction of president Dwight ...

Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benner, Huelet 1917 births 1999 deaths Sportspeople from Arkansas American male sport shooters Shooters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in shooting Olympic medalists in shooting United States Army soldiers United States Distinguished Marksman Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Army Black Knights rifle coaches Pan American Games medalists in shooting Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Shooters at the 1951 Pan American Games Shooters at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games