Carlos Hathcock

Carlos N. Hathcock II
File:CarlosHathcock color.jpg
Nickname(s)	"White Feather"
Allegiance	USMC
Years of service	1959-1979
Rank	Gunnery Sergeant
Battles / wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Silver Star Medal Purple Heart

Carlos Norman Hathcock II (May 20, 1942 – February 23, 1999) was a Marine sniper during the Vietnam War. He was the subject of three biographies, Marine Sniper and Silent Warrior, by Charles W. Henderson. The other is the "Authorized" biography entitled: White Feather: Carlos Hathcock USMC Scout Sniper an Authorized Biographical Memoir by Roy F. & Norman A. Chandler.

Hathcock was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 20 1942 and died on February 23, 1999 in Virginia Beach, Virginia after a long fight with multiple sclerosis.

USMC career

Hathcock enlisted in the Marine Corps on May 20, 1959, at age 17 years. Before his deployment to Vietnam he won many shooting championships, including the prestigious Wimbledon Cup — long-range shooting's most prestigious prize — in 1965. A year later he was sent to Vietnam.

Widely recognized as the Marines' most proficient sniper, Hathcock had killed a confirmed 93 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong personnel. His actual total is believed to be well over 100, which the official count does not reflect. North Vietnam even put a bounty of $50,000 on his life, which was far more than other bounties put on U.S. snipers—typically only $50-$100 USD. The Viet Cong called him Lông Trắng, "the white feather sniper," because he always wore one in the band of his bush hat and only removed it once while stalking an NVA General.

His work demanded steady nerves and was exhausting. During one pursuit of an NVA general, he had to cover more than 1,000 meters of open terrain during three days and nights of constant crawling an inch at a time. In Carlos's own words, one enemy soldier (or "hamburger" as Carlos called them), "shortly after sunset", almost stepped on him as he lay camouflaged with grass and vegetation in a meadow.

Hathcock's career as a sniper came to a sudden end outside Khe Sanh in 1969, when the amphibious tractor he was riding on struck an anti-tank mine. Hathcock pulled seven Marines off the flame-engulfed vehicle before jumping to safety. As was his way, he rejected any commendation for his bravery. He came out of the attack with severe burns over ninety percent of his body, forty nine percent of which were third-degree burns. He was evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where he underwent 13 skin graft operations. The nature of the injuries left him unable to perform effectively in combat with a rifle. He was told he would be recommended for the Silver Star, but he stated that he had only done what anyone there would have if they were awake. Later in life, he was awarded the Silver Star—the third-highest honor—for this incident that occurred nearly 30 years earlier.

Said Hathcock, in his book, of his career as a sniper: "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 we got dressed up like Marines. Thats just the way I see it."

Civilian life

After returning from active duty, Hathcock helped establish a scout and sniper school at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia. In 1975, Hathcock's health began to deteriorate and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis—an incurable, degenerative nerve disorder. He stayed in the Corps but continued to decline in health and was forced to retire just 55 days short of the 20 years that would have made him eligible for 50% retirement pay being medically retired he received 100% disability. He fell into a large state of depression when he was forced out of the Marines because he thought of it as them kicking him out, which he later realized wasn't true. During this depression his wife Jo almost left him for acting like a dead man but he eventually got her to stay and he soon picked up shark fishing with the locals. The fishing made him love life again and he died happily in 1999.

Hathcock once said that he survived in his work because of an ability to "get in the bubble," to put himself into a state of "utter, complete, absolute concentration," first on his equipment, then on his environment in which every breeze and every leaf meant something, and finally on his quarry.

After the war, a friend showed Hathcock a passage written by Ernest Hemingway: "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and like it, never really care for anything else thereafter." He copied Hemingway's words on a piece of paper. "He got that right," Hathcock said. "It was the hunt, not the killing."

Legacy

Hathcock remains a legend within the U.S. Marines. The Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock Award is presented annually to the Marine who does the most to promote marksmanship training. There is also a sniper range named for Hathcock at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

In 1967, Hathcock set a record for the longest combat kill with a Browning M2 .50 BMG machine gun mounting a telescopic sight. The distance was 2,286 meters (2,500 yards). Hathcock was one of several individuals to utilize the Browning M2 machine gun in the sniping role. This success has led to the adoption of the .50 BMG cartridge as a viable anti-personnel and anti-equipment sniper round.

The record stood until 2002, when it was broken during Operation Anaconda by a Canadian three-man sniper team led by Master Corporal Arron Perry from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). The new record was set by Corporal Rob Furlong with a shot of 2,430 meters (2,657 yards) from a McMillan TAC-50 Long-Range Sniper Weapon on a Taliban fighter.

In fictional works

There is a nod to Hathcock in the movie, Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg stated, "the idea of a sniper putting a bullet through another sniper's scope came from the true story of Carlos Hathcock, who killed a Vietcong sniper who was stalking him by putting a bullet through the sniper's scope."

There is also a reference to Hathcock in the television show NCIS during the episode "One Shot One Kill", a small white feather is found at the crime scenes of a sniper's victims.

The protagonist of Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger Trilogy (consisting of the novels Point of Impact, Black Light, and Time to Hunt) is loosely based on Carlos Hathcock.

The movie 'Sniper' features actor Tom Beringer shooting the enemy sniper through his own scope. This must certainly be based on Hathcock's story as well.

In the episode 14 of the anime Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, Saito is shot through the scope of his bolt-action Remington 700 sniper rifle, a rifle similar to that used by Hathcock.

See also

• Jack Coughlin, a retired Marine sniper with over 60 confirmed kills, whose service includes Iraq and Somalia.
• Winchester Model 70, the Marine Corps sniper rifle used by Hathcock.

References

• Henderson, Charles W. Marine Sniper, Stein and Day Publishers, 1986. (ISBN 0-425-10355-2)
• Henderson, Charles W. Silent Warrior, Berkley, 2003. (ISBN 0425188647)
• Chandler, Roy F. Carlos Hathcock "Whitefeather", Iron Brigade Armory Publishing, 1997. (ISBN 1885633092)

External links

• Marine Corps Sniper Carlos N. Hathcock, Marine Corps Heroes.
• Carlos Hathcock, Sniper Central.