THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022
REGION
THE OBSERVER — A3
Sergeant shoots for his life
Gentry Thorpe uses
‘ballistic therapy’ to
overcome trauma
By SHEILA HAGAR
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER
— In his younger life,
Gentry Thorpe easily could
have been on the other side
of the bars on the day he
was knocked senseless in
2019.
The Milton-Freewater
man and Washington State
Penitentiary sergeant was
one of two offi cers pum-
meled, punched and ren-
dered unconscious by a
large, angry and mentally
ill inmate that August day
as they worked inside the
prison’s mental health unit.
Since then, Thorpe has
lived with the physical and
emotional results of the
brutal attack. He said the
best medicine he’s found,
after his family’s support
and love, is through his joy
of and involvement with
precision target shooting.
Such is his passion for
the sport and for sharing it
with others that last year,
Thorpe established a com-
pany, Black Hammer Tac-
ti-cool LLC, which hosts
precision shooting matches
for others who enjoy the
competitive hobby.
Shooting a .22 rifl e helps
everything, settling anxiety
and restoring calm, Thorpe
said.
“I call it ballistic
therapy,” he said.
Life preservers
At one time, fi rearms
stood a good chance of
becoming a serious nega-
tive in Thorpe’s life.
Thorpe said in his home-
town of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, he grew up run-
ning the streets, despite his
grandmother’s eff orts as she
raised him and his siblings
for much of their childhood.
“I’m from a Black neigh-
borhood. I’m from the inner
city,” he said, adding his
mom and dad had their own
challenges rising from the
environment around them.
Joining the military right
after high school meant
rescue from the land mines
ahead he could clearly see,
including gang affi liation,
Thorpe said.
After serving seven
years in the U.S. Army, he
returned to Fort Lauderdale
Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Gentry Thorpe documents the action at a February 2022 rimfi re shooting event at the East End Rod & Gun Club range in Milton-Freewater.
and, to his own dismay, the
street life.
There is every likelihood
Thorpe would have become
another statistic refl ecting
outcomes for young Black
men living in such circum-
stances had it not been for
family.
Thorpe’s older brother
also had joined the Army
as a young man and ended
up stationed at Joint Base
Lewis–McChord near
Tacoma.
“Then he came to Walla
Walla,” Thorpe said. “He
talked me into coming up
here and going to work at
the prison. I had to look
Walla Walla up; I only
knew the name from a
Looney Tunes cartoon.”
Thorpe spent his last
dollars to come for an inter-
view. Assured a job would
be his, he fl ew home again
to make the move.
“My mom gave me the
money to drive up here. I
had $19 to my name when I
got to Walla Walla. I lived
with my brother until I got
on my feet.”
That was in 2008. By
2009, Thorpe had installed
his family, including four
children, in their new
hometown and continued to
focus on building a career
as a corrections offi cer.
The work suited him. At
the time, he said, the prison
had a “paramilitary” atmo-
sphere that was attractive
for its structure and clear
expectations.
“I got promoted fairly
quickly because I was good
at my job. Everything was
good. We had just bought a
house.”
Thorpe, 42, had been
a shooting enthusiast for
years, but coming to this
area brought his hobby into
sharper focus.
“I met some white dudes
who took me out shooting,”
he said, laughing. “It was
like love at fi rst sight. I had
never just shot for fun.”
By 2016, Thorpe was
hosting competitive matches
and teaching classes, with
an emphasis on precision
shooting with .22-caliber
rifl es.
He fi rst informally
started Black Hammer to
teach people long-range
shooting skills, primarily
using the range at East End
Rod & Gun Club in Mil-
ton-Freewater, Thorpe said.
He teaches both rimfi re
and centerfi re shooting, but
this year the focus is on the
simpler rimfi re model to
make the sport less intimi-
dating and less expensive.
Thorpe even supplies
a rifl e and ammunition to
those who want to try it
out, a courtesy he calls “the
Black Hammer experience.”
The business now pres-
ents seasonal shooting
matches. Thorpe is hosting
a fi ve-part, competitive
winter series that will cul-
minate in his fi rst two-day
event on April 9 and 10.
In February, attendance
at the third session was
robust with about 40 adults
and a handful of children
moving through the course,
vying to strike their targets.
Brandon Cadwell, who
runs logistics and coaches
shooting for Black Hammer,
hustled here and there to
help groups get lined out, a
broad smile welcoming all.
“This year, we got affi li-
ated with the Precision Rifl e
(Series), meaning some of
these shooters are showing
up to earn points for that,”
Cadwell said.
On this sunny day, that
included groups like the
team from Lead Farm Gun
Range in Prosser.
Lee Stebar, from La
Grande, said Lead Farm
members have been faith-
fully traveling to Mil-
ton-Freewater to participate
in the Black Hammer series.
“This is pure enjoyment,”
Stebar said, waving a hand
toward the range, explaining
the challenge of multiple
targets in multiple positions
creates a happy tension as
Lead Farm shooters try
for the highest point count
possible.
“It gets intense, and
that’s half the pleasure.”
Down from Othello,
Washington, David Valdez
was attending his fi rst com-
petitive match after meeting
other shooters at another
event. It was a good way to
spend a Saturday outdoors
with new friends for not a
whole lot of money, Valdez
said.
“The .22 is cheaper, and
it teaches the fundamentals
of shooting.”
Victor Mendoza from
Hermiston agreed.
“It’s just fl at out fun, a
good way to practice for rel-
atively low cost. And this is
a really nice range.”
Duc Luu, a dentist at
the Walla Walla prison, has
known Gentry Thorpe for
years and relishes being part
of the Black Hammer crew.
Events like this, which
attract families and friends,
“puts shooting in a positive
light,” Luu said.
“We all value the Second
Amendment. We love the
community support. This
is very organized and very
safe.”
Target shooting under
these circumstances can be
a good youth activity, all the
better for being an outdoor
sport, Luu said.
Jimmy Cadwell, 6, could
be inclined to agree. The
Assumption Catholic School
kindergartner participates
in the “Mighty Mini” divi-
sion for shooters age 10 and
under, with a focus on fun
over competition.
Nonetheless, when asked
what he enjoys about the
sport, Jimmy shot out an
answer:
“Winning.”
Winning at recovery
Gentry and his wife,
Diedra Thorpe, now fully
understand there is more
than one way to win at
target shooting.
The residual brain
trauma from the inmate
attack left Gentry Thorpe
with short-term memory
loss, cognitive issues,
mental fatigue and poor
concentration. Vertigo
and migraines plague the
corrections offi cer while
periods of dark mood and
fl ashes of anger impact the
rest of the family.
“My psychologist tells
me that’s part of the brain
injury. I was super mellow
before,” he said.
His wife has been a
trooper, working as a
para-educator at an elemen-
tary school while pursuing a
master’s degree in teaching
and picking up the slack on
the bad days, he said.
It was Diedra Thorpe
who insisted her husband,
a self-proclaimed “non pet
person,” get the service dog
health providers had recom-
mended. Thus, “Blu” has
joined the family.
When Thorpe was fi rst
injured, he “absolutely”
couldn’t go out to shoot, he
remembered.
“I couldn’t leave the
house. I couldn’t do
anything.”
About the time his psy-
chologist suggested he try
returning to his favorite
sport, his speech therapist
recommended the same. As
Thorpe was able to return to
his hobby, the mechanics of
the sport retrained the focus
and stamina he’d lost, much
to his relief.
With the arrival of the
COVID-19 pandemic,
Thorpe took time to pro-
mote Black Hammer in
every fashion he could.
“It gave me an oppor-
tunity to post my stuff on
social media, and more
people who were sitting at
home and doing nothing
saw it. I just fl ooded social
media and tried to break the
internet with all of it.”
His wife used her degree
in graphic arts to help with
logo and marketing eff orts,
he said.
As the response started
rolling in, Thorpe felt his
depression falling away.
“People came, they
showed up and they went
shooting. And I got to
socialize again. I was able to
leave the house.”
He plans to pay the medi-
cine forward, he said.
“I’ve just tried to share
what helps me with other
people. I want them to have
that same feeling.”
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BMCC president orders a ‘full institutional review’
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — In the
wake of negative feedback
from students and with
budget cuts on the horizon,
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College President Mark
Browning is planning a
“full institutional review”
of the college.
Browning made his
announcement in a March 2
president’s report to the
BMCC Board of Education.
“We need to hear from
those who we strive to serve
that in some ways, we are
not meeting our own stan-
dards, we are not delivering
on our promise to be Stu-
dents First,” he wrote. “This
is a stark wake up call.
We must do better. And
improvement starts with the
diffi cult work of internal
examination and review,
each of us individually, as
departments, as buildings,
as a campus.”
Since starting in the
position last year, Browning
said he’s been speaking
with students to gauge their adjustments so that we bal-
thoughts on the col-
ance our budget, but
lege and its staff . As
we have to make sure
time went on their
we are making those
comments have
adjustments such that
become more candid
we have resources
and have included
available to be proac-
feedback that the col-
tive and grow versus
lege doesn’t always
Browning
just hanging on,” he
feel like a welcoming
said. ”I’m not inter-
environment.
ested in hanging on. I’m
But student sentiments
interested in growing and
aren’t the only reason
being vital and thriving.”
Browning wants a review.
Although Browning said
With enrollment continuing the college is planning on
to erode, Blue Moun-
moving forward with the
tain expects to make more
review, it’s still in the early
budget cuts following two
stages. He said the review
previous rounds of staff
will be conducted by a
reductions.
third party and he’s already
While BMCC gets
talking with a few poten-
audited each year like every tial companies about taking
other public agency in the
on the task. He doesn’t yet
state, Browning said the
have a timeline for when
review will take a wider
the review will begin and
look at the school’s oper-
end, and whether it will be
ations and programs and
completed by the time the
provide recommendations
college approves a budget
on how to improve them.
for the next fi scal year.
Browning said all of these
While the review comes
measures are taken with the at a tough time for the col-
idea of setting BMCC back
lege, Browning still struck
on the path of growth.
an optimistic tone about the
“We can make budget
future of BMCC.
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“I don’t want to paint a
picture that everything is
doom and gloom, because
it’s certainly not that,” he
said. “We’re doing a number
of really good things. We’re
going to be coming up here
in a couple of months on a
time of graduation, where
students are going to be
walking across the stage,
getting their degree and cer-
tifi cate, and they’re gonna
have a whole new world out
in front of them. So let’s
make sure we celebrate
that for the good that we’re
doing, with a recognition
that there’s always room for
improvement.”
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