Photo By Roger RyDell Daniels | Retired Master Sgt. Charles Johnson displays the skills he used to bowl a perfect 300...... read more read more
FORT STEWART, Ga. - After bowling 11 perfect frames, a buzz which had already spread throughout the building, caused most people to pause from their bowling to see if retired Master Sgt. Charles Johnson will complete the perfect game.
Johnson took his black 15-pound ball, steadied himself and took aim. As the ball rolled down the lanes, Johnson somewhat knew what the outcome would be.
Nine pins fell; he just finished with a 299 game – one shy of perfection in the first of three games of the Wednesday Night Bowling League at Marne Lanes March 20.
It was only the beginning of his very good night. A second game of 239 followed. The third game turned out to be a repeat of the first.
After 11 straight strikes, Johnson faced another chance for perfection. This time, just as the first game, most bowlers stopped their games to see if they would witness a 300 game.
This time, he nailed it; a strike – 12 up and 12 down.
Johnson had just bowled a perfect 300 game for the second time since picking up bowling in 1991.
In addition to his 300 game, his three games total of 838 was also impressive.
For his rare accomplishments, he’ll receive two rings, one for his 300 game and one for bowling an 800 series from the United States Bowling Congress.
“I’ve been chasing that 300 all year,” said Johnson, who retired from the Army in March 2012 after a 29 year career. “It’s never easy [to bowl a 300]; it’s always fun to bowl a 300, it kind of gives you bragging rights. It’s like you set the bar. A lot of people have given me good praises for achieving it.”
Johnson said he will cherish his 800 series a little more than the 300 game because it’s a harder accomplishment.
“Within the same night to get 800, 300, and the 299 all in one set, that’s a rarity in itself,” Johnson said. “The 800 is definitely the hardest because you can roll a 300 in a series and not get an 800. You have to put together some high games in order to get an 800 series.”
Johnson wasn’t always a good bowler. His journal to greatness started in 1991 while on a recruiting assignment in Lawton, Okla.
He started after being asked to join the unit’s bowling team. He developed the love of the game and his skill level.
“It was a challenge to me; I just stuck with it,” he said. “I was intrigued by how they could throw a curve with the ball. I said ‘if I can develop that.’ I turned out to be pretty good, then in the process it turned out to be fun and it became a hobby of mine,” he said.
Johnson bowls more than 20 games a week in three bowling leagues. In one of the leagues, he is joined by his son, Staff Sgt. Charles Johnson III, who is stationed at Fort Stewart.
Johnson and his wife Dolphine also have a 23-year-old daughter, Arika.
When he is not bowling, he spends his time as a counselor with the Youth Challenge, a six-month military-style program on Fort Stewart, designed to assist youth in various areas such as job skills and educational development.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.05.2013 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 104692 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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