It is with deep regret that I report the passing of William “Dale” Benson who passed on November 12, 2021 from a short battle with cancer. His “official” obituary can be found at www.fhnfuneralhome.com but for us airgun folks there is much much more. Dale never owned a computer but he was the most avid airgunner I have ever known and also one of the most knowledgeable although he would never admit to being any kind of expert.
It’s not possible to talk about Dale without talking about Field Target. The story goes back to the late 1980’s when FT was just getting started in the US. There were guys near Tampa, FL and perhaps the west coast but a real “hotbed” of FT was also the Maryland, DC area. There were groups like King George Shooting Association and Capital Area Field Target Association that shot in places called the Hopyard Farm, the Eagles Nest Farm in King George, VA and later in Germantown and Fort Meade, MD. Early names associated with these groups were Trooper Walsh, Mike Williams, Mike Andrews, Bob Walls (who started the Richmond Airgun Club Newsletter) and Chad Jennings and I am sure others I don’t recall. I don’t know if Dale was an “official” member of these groups but he was active with them and like all of them he promoted FT whenever he could. Remember, if you can, that back then there was no internet. All the information went out via newsletters, match reports (typed or handwritten), and word of mouth. Dale was a “word of mouth” guy and went to any airgun event he could find. I was pretty clueless at that time but was starting to run NRA Air Rifle Silhouette Matches at Delran Junior Marksman Club in Delran, NJ. Dale saw our match listing in the American Rifleman and called me on the phone immediately. He lived pretty far away so I figured that I would never see him, WRONG! He was the first one there, as in even before I got to the range! We became immediate friends but one of the first things out of his mouth was “Hey why don’t you run some Field Target Matches”? Well as they say, the rest is history and none of these clubs or people are active today. Many have died while others have moved on to other things but the important thing to remember is that they kept the “flame of field target” burning when we most needed them. FT is still being shot today in no small part because of them.
Dale was one of THEM. I miss him dearly.
It’s not possible to talk about Dale without talking about Field Target. The story goes back to the late 1980’s when FT was just getting started in the US. There were guys near Tampa, FL and perhaps the west coast but a real “hotbed” of FT was also the Maryland, DC area. There were groups like King George Shooting Association and Capital Area Field Target Association that shot in places called the Hopyard Farm, the Eagles Nest Farm in King George, VA and later in Germantown and Fort Meade, MD. Early names associated with these groups were Trooper Walsh, Mike Williams, Mike Andrews, Bob Walls (who started the Richmond Airgun Club Newsletter) and Chad Jennings and I am sure others I don’t recall. I don’t know if Dale was an “official” member of these groups but he was active with them and like all of them he promoted FT whenever he could. Remember, if you can, that back then there was no internet. All the information went out via newsletters, match reports (typed or handwritten), and word of mouth. Dale was a “word of mouth” guy and went to any airgun event he could find. I was pretty clueless at that time but was starting to run NRA Air Rifle Silhouette Matches at Delran Junior Marksman Club in Delran, NJ. Dale saw our match listing in the American Rifleman and called me on the phone immediately. He lived pretty far away so I figured that I would never see him, WRONG! He was the first one there, as in even before I got to the range! We became immediate friends but one of the first things out of his mouth was “Hey why don’t you run some Field Target Matches”? Well as they say, the rest is history and none of these clubs or people are active today. Many have died while others have moved on to other things but the important thing to remember is that they kept the “flame of field target” burning when we most needed them. FT is still being shot today in no small part because of them.
Dale was one of THEM. I miss him dearly.
