A lot of people have never heard of Carlos Hathcock. A lot of people do know some of the things he has done. If you are giggling at his last name, shame on you. Carlos Hathcock is one of the reasons we aren't all speaking Vietnamese right now. If the Viet Cong had a Carlos Hathcock on their side he probably would have sniped his way all the way to the White House and proclaimed himself Emperor for Life.
Gunnery Sargent Hathcock had 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam during his two tours of duty. The count is probably much higher due to the rules of counting confirmed kills. He was an ultimate badass that when he had a job to do, he did it. He didn't hesitate, he didn't ask frivolous questions, he straight up got shit done.
Carlos Hathcock was born in 1942 and raised in rural Arkansas by his grandmother. He honed his kill shot hunting small game to feed his poor family. As a child he would also take his dog out into the woods and pretend he was a one man Nazi killing machine. If he'd have been born a few decades earlier he probably would have been. A few grams of lead put right between the eyes of Hitler and everyone could have bugged out early.
In 1959, at the age of 17 Hathcock fulfilled his lifelong dream and enlisted in the Marines. When I was 17 I played high school football, went swimming in friend's pools and enjoyed the cool comfort of air conditioning. Carlos Hathcock wanted none of that. Shortly after enlisting in the Marines he made it well known he was king shit when it came to handling a rifle. In 1965 he won the Wimbolden Cup, the most prestigious prize in shooting, at Camp Perry. Then something happened. Viet-goddamn-nam happened.
As stated above Hathcock had 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. In order to get a confirmed kill the shot had to be witnessed by an acting third party who also had to be an officer in addition to the shooter's spotter. If a sniper was behind enemy lines, which was often the case, the third party would not be present. Long story short, Carlos Hathcock did many a widow make.
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| Killing is my business, and business is good. |
Carlos Hathcock was so good at killing NVA that they put a $30,000 bounty on his head. The usual going rate for enemy snipers was anywhere from $8 to $2000. That about makes him a rock star among American snipers.
He was called "White Feather" for the white feather he wore in his cap. If an enemy sniper ever got him in his scope he probably saw the white feather and thought about the frivolity of war. Then Carlos Hathcock made orphans out of his children. Because that's what he had been sent to do. In a book about his life he stated, "I like shooting, and I love hunting. But I never did enjoy killing anybody. It's my job. If I don't get those bastards, then they're gonna kill a lot of these kids dressed up like Marines. That's the way I look at it." The man had a mission and he chose to accept it.
Hathcock's most famous kill shot has been recreated in movies a couple times over. Hathcock and his spotter, John Roland Burke, were hunting an enemy sniper that had already killed a couple of Marines near Hill 55. Many believed he had been sent to specifically kill Hathcock. Hathcock saw a flash of light in the bushes and fired at it. The bullet traveled through the enemy's scope hitting him in his eye and turning his brain into a bowl of scrambbied eggs. The only way that could have happened was if both snipers had been aiming directly at one another.
On another mission that he volunteered for he had to crawl over 1,500 yards through a field to kill and enemy general. It took him four days and three nights to inch his way to his prey. After he sent the general packing he then had to crawl back, inch-by-inch.
Hathcock's career in Vietnam came to an end when the amtrack he was riding on hit and anti-tank mine. Before he saved himself he pulled seven other Marine's to safety. In the aftermath he rejected an commendation for his bravery saying that he only did what anyone else would have done. He later received the Silver Star.
Hathcock passed away in 1999 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. He remains a legend in the Marine Corps to this day. The Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock Award is given annually to the Marine sniper who does the most to promote marksmanship. Camp Lejeune in North Carolina has a sniper range named after him. He has also been alluded to in many fictional works including his scope kill which was portrayed in Saving Private Ryan. Sniper, the 1993 film starring the Tom Berringer and a so-so Billy Zane was about his exploits in Vietnam. If Tom Berringer is going to be playing you, you know you are bad ass.
Sources:
http://military.discovery.com/technology/weapons/snipers/snipers-01.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock
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