President John F. Kennedy knew the value of marksmanship training: "All of us, I am sure, 10 years ago thought that the need for the man with the rifle would be passing away from the scene in the 1960s. And it is true that there are a good many Americans tonight who are stationed underground in a hardened silo whose duty is to watch some tables and some dials and a button.
"But the very size and magnitude of these new great weapons have placed a new emphasis upon what we call rather strangely conventional war, and they have made it even more mandatory that we keep the man with the rifle." (Address given at the Marine Corp Barracks, Washington, D.C., July 12, 1962)
Copyright 2008, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action. This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.
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