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A Patriot has passed

Started by BeSwift, April 02, 2019, 09:29:29 AM

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BeSwift


VAShooter/ Doug Bronnenberg, has passed.

To say that Doug was instrumental in getting Project Appleseed off the ground would be an understatement. In the early days, VAShooter  traveled extensively throughout the country, training shoot bosses, serving as a mentor to many, and literally getting the program off the ground. Many of the old timers and myself in particular, got our start in the program with VAShooter.  Maryland's program would NOT have happened, were it not for his kindness, expertise, guidance, and assistance. His impact has been truly immeasurable.

Even if you did not know him, odds are high, that someone who trained YOU, was trained by VAShooter.. The number of volunteers and Rifleman as a result of VAShooters direct & indirect effort easily numbers in the thousands....  Think about that.... That is a legacy... That is making a difference...

As his health declined and he found himself unable to continue working events, he would still attend, donate his time and expertise, and even rifles and gear to the program.

I am grateful and honored to have known him.  Appleseed wouldn't be what it is today, without his efforts.   RIP VAShooter.   

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well"
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Happiness =  Reality - Expectations

Guntuckian

RIP VAShooter.  Thanks for all you did for America.  You will be missed.
--------------------------------------------------
1st Appleseed:           04/20/2013 - Palm Bay, FL
Rifleman:                   02/01/2014 - Palm Bay, FL
Cleared 1st Redcoat:   02/02/2014 - Palm Bay, FL
1st KD:  Palm Bay 8/14
1st IBC:  Dunnellon 4/15
Palm Bay 4/17 KD Rifleman
Palm Bay 10/20 Rimfire KD Rifleman
NRA Certified (Rifle and Pistol Instructor, RSO)

O.___.                            
  )V        O.___.                    
  /%       ( V       ,____    O.___.
/  %      o/L         ,___--- V

scuzzy

Sad news indeed. Prayers for VA and his family.
An Armed Society is a polite society. Heinlein.

colonial shooter

Wow, I knew the day would finally get here... I remember his first appleseed in Chesterfield, he showed up and unloaded his gear in the open field we were using for the event. He was using an M4 dedicated .22 and was doing amazing things, even out to 100 yds with it. It was then learned, that he was a double distinguished shooter in the Navy. He immediately took a hat and Fred welcomed him as if he was born there! My prayers go out to his family and I know I will see him at the pearly gates, probably giving shooting advice to all who enter.

RIP my brother
"When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny." --Thomas Jefferson

Only the dead have seen the end of war
Plato

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

PHenry

I had the honor to work with him at Ft. Stewart, GA, working with a dozen instructors and 450 National Guardsmen. A full week in the GA sun and VA hung with all of us. He drove - 30+ minutes from bunks to the range at 55MPH. He referred to his GPS as "The bitch in the box" - an old salt he was and I am glad I got to meet him. He knew more about rifle marksmanship than anyone I ever met.

Via con Dios mi amigo.
Para ser Libre, un Hombre debe tener tres cosas. La Tierra, una Educacion, y un Fusil. Siempre, un Fusil!  Emiliano Zapata

Mercedes

What beautiful tributes.  So grateful that Padraic and I have become part of this wonderful AS family.

Debbie

Mercedes

What beautiful tributes.  So grateful that Padraic and I have become part of this wonderful AS family.

Debbie

BD

Doug is a loss to our country.  We need people like him.
I tried to learn everything I could from the man.  It was a lot.
I'll never forget the day he told me "You've shot a riflemen's score" when I earned my first patch.
He never tired of my incessant questions about M1 Garands.  He was a walking encyclopedia on them.

We all borrowed from his story telling style, complete and to the point and leaving everyone thinking of the bigger picture.
He had patience - he would always choose a shooter who was having trouble with marksmanship and proceeded to round them into shape by the end of the weekend.
We are richer for knowing him.
Up the Republic

The Wolfhound

I was not surprised when I heard the news this morning. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(  Let me make this clear: Every Shoot Boss, Every Instructor, Every IIT in Virginia DOES draw their lineage from Doug.  Stacie and I both had the privilege of learning from him.  With the exception of BD, who got there ahead of me, getting his inspiration direct from the source, Doug influenced everything we have been teaching.  His patience and skill made him a great mentor.  When I learned of his record (pardon me if I have any detail out of place but this is from memory) of ZERO DROPPED POINTS for the NAVY matches in 1968 at 1000 yards with an M-1 Garrand chambered (as the Navy did it) in 7.62x51.  All in the 10 ring for the entire season! 
I have 2 specific memories of Doug at Appleseed that I cherish: I was walking back from the target line on Sunday afternoon at my first Appleseed and Doug says: "You know what I see?"  I see a rifleman score!"  At a glance he had scored my target and indeed when officially scored it was a 216.  The other is what we affectionately call "the Senior Instructor Position"  Between sleep apnea, hearing loss and acustomation to gunfire, Doug could fall asleep on the range, during live fire.  I will long remember seeing him thus in his chair at Cavalier.
He was also very generous, not the least of which was the donation of one of our Virginia loaner rifles.
Directly or indirectly Doug has likely touched YOUR life.  May we all live to such a standard.
Thank you, Doug

If you were taught by Doug, please sign in and say so.  I will open a separate thread in the Virginia section for that.

BeSwift

Quote from: The Wolfhound on April 02, 2019, 05:04:38 PM
I was not surprised when I heard the news this morning. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(  Let me make this clear: Every Shoot Boss, Every Instructor, Every IIT in Virginia DOES draw their lineage from Doug.  Stacie and I both had the privilege of learning from him.  With the exception of BD, who got there ahead of me, getting his inspiration direct from the source, Doug influenced everything we have been teaching.  His patience and skill made him a great mentor.  When I learned of his record (pardon me if I have any detail out of place but this is from memory) of ZERO DROPPED POINTS for the NAVY matches in 1968 at 1000 yards with an M-1 Garrand chambered (as the Navy did it) in 7.62x51.  All in the 10 ring for the entire season! 
I have 2 specific memories of Doug at Appleseed that I cherish: I was walking back from the target line on Sunday afternoon at my first Appleseed and Doug says: "You know what I see?"  I see a rifleman score!"  At a glance he had scored my target and indeed when officially scored it was a 216.  The other is what we affectionately call "the Senior Instructor Position"  Between sleep apnea, hearing loss and acustomation to gunfire, Doug could fall asleep on the range, during live fire.  I will long remember seeing him thus in his chair at Cavalier.
He was also very generous, not the least of which was the donation of one of our Virginia loaner rifles.
Directly or indirectly Doug has likely touched YOUR life.  May we all live to such a standard.
Thank you, Doug

If you were taught by Doug, please sign in and say so.  I will open a separate thread in the Virginia section for that.

Laughing out loud... yeah, Doug could sleep literally anywhere, anytime.... I'd forgotten that tidbit...  ;D
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well"
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Happiness =  Reality - Expectations

jmdavis

His snoring could sure keep you awake in a hotel room. We taught together in VA, AL, MD, NC, OH, IN, MO, WV, NJ, and a couple of more. We did 20 hour drives to MO and back to run a week of KD for an RBC. We taught the first IBC in AL, ran KD's in VA and NC. We did a lot of regular Appleseeds with drives of 7-9 hours. 

Doug is my friend. He had not been well but when I talked with him last Sunday he was in pretty good spirits, we talked about books and I told him that I would be over that week. Found out that he had entered hospice care on Thursday and I was there Friday morning. He was asleep and didn't wake up that day. The next morning he had stopped breathing.

There will be a memorial and I will make the information known when I have it. It will be scheduled for a Sunday afternoon at Cavalier Rifle and Pistol Club.
"If a man does his best, what else is there?"  - General George S. Patton Jr

  ...We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
  For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
  Shall be my brother...-Shakespeare, Henry V
 

"There's a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates."
- General George S. Patton, Jr

"Your body can't go where your mind hasn't been."
- Alex Arrieta 1995 NTI Winner

JoeZ

Quote from: jmdavis on April 04, 2019, 03:12:11 PM
We did 20 hour drives to MO and back to run a week of KD for an RBC.

I was at that RBC and scored my official Full Distance AQT under him. My first and only impression of him; a descent, experienced man willing to share his knowledge. "HEY JoeZ...DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO BREATHE???" That was his very vocal critique of my shooting. It really stuck with me and helped. My breathing control is much better now.

May God rest his soul.
"What is she, that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the Moon, elect as the sun, terrible as the army of a camp set in array?" Canticle of Canticles 6:9

BillP_556

VASHOOTER will be missed!  He was a good guy who really believed in the program and helping to build a new world of rifleman, even when AS events were few and far between.  I remember joining him and a few other young seeders on weekends practicing AQT's.
Respectfully,

BillP_556