Charles Askins
American army officer (1907–1999)
title: "Charles Askins" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1907-births", "1999-deaths", "burials-at-fort-sam-houston-national-cemetery", "united-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "american-hunters", "gun-writers", "united-states-border-patrol-agents", "20th-century-american-writers", "20th-century-american-male-writers", "united-states-army-colonels"] description: "American army officer (1907–1999)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Askins" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American army officer (1907–1999) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Charles Askins, Jr. |
| birth_date | |
| death_date | |
| birth_place | Texas, U.S. |
| death_place | San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| placeofburial | Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery |
| image_size | 220px |
| nickname | Boots |
| allegiance | United States of America |
| branch | United States Army |
| serviceyears | 1940–1971 |
| rank | Colonel |
| battles | World War II |
| laterwork | US Border Patrol |
| :: |
| name = Charles Askins, Jr. | birth_date = | death_date = | birth_place = Texas, U.S. | death_place = San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | placeofburial= Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery | image = | image_size = 220px | caption = | nickname = Boots | allegiance = United States of America | branch = United States Army | serviceyears = 1940–1971 | rank = Colonel | commands = | unit = | battles = World War II | awards = | laterwork = US Border Patrol Charles Askins, Jr. (October 28, 1907 – March 2, 1999), also known as Col. Charles "Boots" Askins, was an American lawman, US Army officer, and writer. Askins was the son of Major Charles "Bobo" Askins, a sports writer and Army officer who served in the Spanish–American War and World War I.
Early life
Askins was born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma and his first job was fighting forest fires in Montana. In 1927, the US Forest Service transferred him to New Mexico to be a Park Ranger at the Kit Carson National Forest.
The US Border Patrol
Askins was recruited by the U.S. Border Patrol in 1930. In his memoir Unrepentant Sinner, Askins recounted that he had been involved in at least one gunfight every week.
During his service in the Border Patrol, Askins won many pistol championships, and was made the leader of the Border Patrol's handgun skills program.
US Army and later life
Askins served in the US Army during World War II as a battlefield recovery officer, making landings in North Africa, Italy, and on D-day. He held several big game hunting records in his lifetime, as well as two national pistol championships, an American Handgunner of the Year award, and innumerable smaller titles in competitive shooting.
Askins, like his father, was a prolific writer, writing books and over 1,000 magazine articles on subjects related to hunting and shooting. His writing career spanned 70 years, from 1929 until his death in 1999. He was buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
Legacy
Askins was controversial for the relish with which he described the numerous fatal shootings in his law enforcement and military careers, stating he had killed 27 men. Because he was involved in numerous shootouts along the US/Mexico border, and due to his stated practice of not keeping track of African-Americans and Hispanics, the actual number of killings he committed was potentially much higher.
Books written by Askins
- Hitting the Bull's-Eye, Fitchburg, Mass., Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works, c1939.
- The Art of Handgun Shooting, New York, A.S. Barnes, 1941.
- Wing and Trap Shooting, New York, Macmillan, 1948.
- The Pistol Shooter's Book, Harrisburg, Penn., Stackpole, 1953 (2nd ed. 1961).
- Unrepentant Sinner: The Autobiography Of Col. Charles Askins
- The Gunfighters: True Tales of Outlaws, Lawmen, and Indians on the Texas Frontier with William Askins
- Shotgun-ology: A Handbook of Useful Shotgun Information
- The African Hunt
- Asian jungle, African Bush
- The Shotgunner's Book - A Modern Encyclopedia
- Texans, Guns & History
- The Federalist (The Firearms Classics Library)
References
References
- Taffin, John. (2003). "Old warriors - Campfire Tales". Guns Magazine.
- Warner, Ken. (1994). "Gun Digest 1995". DBI Books.
- Menke, Frank Grant. (1975). "The Encyclopedia of Sports". A. S. Barne.
- Ayoob, Massad. (1999). "The Gunfights of Col. Charles Askins". American Handgunner.
- Skelton, Skeeter. (1972). "The Legend Of Charley Askins". Shooting Times Magazine.
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