Richard Venola: September 18, 1958 - February 6, 2021 Richard Venola: September 18, 1958 - February 6, 2021 Former Guns & Ammo Editor Richard Erik Venola passed away on February 6, 2021, in Nye County, Nevada. He was 62. The shooting world — his world — is much the poorer for it. February 16, 2021 By Payton Miller and Eric R. Poole Venola was born in Glendale, California, in 1958. His father Erik Venola was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, and a soldier stationed in Hawaii who later became a successful service-rifle competitor. Richard Venola enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1976 and traveled the world extensively while documenting the firearms he encountered. His early assignments included Marine Security Guard (MSG) duty at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs was assassinated on February 14, 1979, which had a profound effect on the Venola. Then-Sgt. Venola separated from active duty in August 1979 and became a Reservist to attend college at the University of Montana in Missoula to pursue a degree in Journalism. Then the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, which pulled on his desire to return and report on combat from the perspective of Mujahideen fighters. This experience can be read in the article, “When They Were Friends,” which originally appeared in the 2010 edition of Guns & Ammo’s “Combat Arms” magazine.