this is amazing, 84 year old WWII sniper

Amazing at any age, but if he is 84 now, he would have been 13-14 when the US entered WW-2. 17 or 18 when it ended. I know some voluntered at earlier ages, but 19 was the minimum draft age back then. My dad is 89 and one of the first of the 19 year olds to be drafted. Dad was in the Army within 5 months of HS graduation. This guy would have been in 6th or 7th grade then. Is this possibly an old clip?
 
The conscription age in WWII was 18, not 19. You could have enlisted at 17. Given how poor record keeping was then compared to the digital records of today, many guys younger than that served. He could have enlisted later in the war and served.
 
A friend of mine's father won his silver star at age 17. Like so many he falsified his age and entered when he was 15 years old. He retired as a Marine SGM.

My father (89) made an off hand 300yd shot on a crow with his Springfield 22 when he was 77. He had told me of routinely making those shots when he was a boy. I think he did it in order to disperse any doubts about his ability.

I had the privilege of hunting Jack Rabbits with an 80 year old WWI vet Back in the late 60s. He used his 1903 Springfield (brought it home from Europe) Milsurp ammo. He routinely killed Jacks on the run at over 100 yds.

One gun, one type bullet and years of shooting equal awesome shots.
 
Yep, I'll give him credit.
You never "forget" how to shoot...
But, controlling respiration, heartbeat, muscle and trigger control are a different animal at his age.

Obviously, he doesn't have issues with those!
 
Lotsa old guys can do the same sort of thing, but for not as long or as often. It's more about endurance than other factors, as near as I can tell.

Old racing drivers can commonly run competitively fast laps--for two or three laps and then fatigue begins to bite.
 
I remember when my Grandfather bought his 38, he took it to the range with me and the first 5 shots were grouped in like a baseball. He hadn't shot a gun in 30+ years. He was in Vietnam.
 
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