Early Monday morning I received a call from NRA Secretary Edward J. “Jim” Land, Jr., USMC (Ret.). Jim has the difficult, and at times enviable, job of running the corporation part of the Association, including the NRA Annual Meetings and the NRA Board Meetings. A shooter’s shooter, Jim is double distinguished, was a Marine officer in Vietnam and is one of the fathers of the modern Marine Corps sniping program.
Jim is both my friend and hero, so when he needs help with a firearm or equipment or just getting to the right person, I’m always happy to help. He called me to his office for “some help with the Leupold people.”
I sent the following to my friend Pat Mundy of Leupold’s marketing department (a really good guy) without further explanation and the attached photo taken on Jim’s desk:
Dear Pat: Do you know Jim Land is? He's NRA Secretary, one of our top officers of the Association. He's a retired USMC major and was Carlos Hathcock's CO in Vietnam.
He asked me to have a look at his Leupold binoculars. He likes them quite a lot but has been having some trouble with them.
Is there a guy you really trust in customer service we could send them to? Nebraska deer season is right around the corner, so we are hoping for a quick turnaround.
Many thanks,
Mark iv
What I didn’t tell him was that Jim had left the binoculars (forensic examination indicates that, at one time, they were Leupold Wind Rivers) on the bumper of a truck, and they fell off in a field last deer season. They were subsequently well and thoroughly minced by a bush hog clearing the field.
To paraphrase my favorite Leupold ad of the 1980s: “That bush hog thought my binoculars were just another stump …"
