CARLOS HATHCOCK

[woodyz]

If you don't know who Carlos Hathcock was here's a link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock



I have seen a lot of pictures of him with different rifles, they even have one named after him, but I have never seen him with this one.

[Ceorlmann]

Better than that. Read Charles Henderson's books about him.

Marine Sniper
Silent Warrior

[Ceorlmann]

As to the rifle: a date on the photo would be helpful. I know the Gunny used different rifles during his Vietnam tours.

[jmarshnh]

Those two books are the best and super reading. White Feather is more about his personal life as opposed to his military life. The primary weapon he used was the pre 1964 Winchester Model 70 chambered in .308 using boat tail match ammo and the Unerti scope. That ammo was prohibited from regular use by all branches of the military, by the Military Code of Conduct, until after Viet Nam. He also used the Browning M2 .50 BMG with the Unerti scope mounted for his super long range shots. Unfortunately he passed away Feb 1999 in VA ,at 57 years of age, due to MS.
I have a close friend who knew him very well from his Marine Corps days and until Hathcock died.

My favorite rifle to this day is the Model 70 chambered for 30.06. I would like to get a pre 64 rifle due to the smooth action and accuracy.

Jim

[missasip]

I have read Marine Sniper at least 20 times. The book is lost, but it was so dog eared it was tough to read anymore.

IIRC White feather was written by his commanding office in the Nam. I'm probably wrong. Thinking it was last name Chandler or something like that. Never read it. Just have not gotten around tuit....

He was one tough azz man...

Jimmy

[USCGME2]

Didnt he also win a Silver Star for pulling some men out of a burning tank or APC?

[thywar]

Sept 29, 2013 20:33:14 GMT -7 USCGME2 said:

Didnt he also win a Silver Star for pulling some men out of a burning tank or APC?

USCGME2: You're exactly right about the silver star (how are you reading without your glasses?)

Not only was Carlos extremely lethal as a sniper, but he was also a brave marine; he was awarded the Silver Star for his act in 1969 of saving the lives of seven fellow Marines after the amphibious tractor on which they were riding struck a mine. Hathcock was knocked unconscious, but awoke in time to race back through the flames to save his comrades.

Carlos Hathcock was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 20, 1942.


historywarsweapons.com/carlos-hathcock/

[Ceorlmann]

He suffered really badly from the burns. 2nd and 3rd degree all over.

A sniper so respected even Chris Kyle wrote in his book that he could never compare himself to him.

[woodscustom]

You can catch a lot of information on him on the History and Military channel from time to time.

WC

[mrmike]

He was the first person to mount a scope to a Ma' Duce 50 cal.

[woodyz]

Eye Witness to Amtrac Explosion
"I was there the day the mine exploded under the Amtrac on which he (Carlos Hathcock) was riding. I had been on the #3 Amtrac at Hill 37 LZ Baldy when Carlos Hathcock (I didn't know his name at the time) and his backup climbed onboard. I knew they both were snipers. I could see his white feather, heavy barreled rifle and scope; and the M14 backup rifle. It was about 20-30 minutes before the explosion. A buddy of mine and I got off and moved up to the #2 Amtrac which had less Marines onboard. There were five Amtracs in the column. We started at our Amtrac Platoon area next to the road that went west to Fire Base Ross, at the SW corner of Hill 37.We were going out to secure a rice cache and protect it from the VC.

"We left from Hill 37, LZ Baldy and headed north on US 1. A mile or so north ,we left the road (US 1), and started west out through a large rice paddy, hundreds of acres of open space. The #1 Amtrac stopped on US 1 and made the normal 90 degree steering turn and went down the embankment into the rice paddy. The driver of the #2 Amtrac that I was on made an abrupt turn, cutting the side out of the road, and went on into the rice paddy. The #3 Amtrac made the normal 90 degree steering turn on the road and started down the embankment when the explosion occurred. I do not know if it was triggered by the first two Amtracs or if it was command detonated. I do recall seeing one old Papasan standing close to the road on the east side as we left the road. He was not seen later on. All of those out in the rice paddy disappeared as well.

"The explosion was horrific. We had topped off our gasoline tanks earlier, each Amtrac had about 500 gallons. The flames were sky high at the start. Smoke was jet black and thick. Men were covered with gasoline and burning alive. We were about 100 feet ahead of them. I don't know how any got of alive. It was so sudden, no warning at all. I could see someone getting Marines off the Amtrac through the fire and flames. By the time we got to them all of them were off. The site was beyond description. Everyone was injured. As I recall there were about 22 Marines involved, including the Amtrac crewmen and mechanics. The Amtrac driver got out alive, but was burned. An Amtrac mechanic was burned on the arm. (The crew chief may have been blow out of his hatch.) The Marines on top were all severely burned. We rolled them in the rice paddy. I wonder then which would kill them first, the burns or the infection from the nasty water. We had no choice. I cut the clothes off of one Marine, all he had left was a tee shirt and his boots. His legs, arms and face were burned, some third degree burns. I kept him alert and walking around, I told him "don't you die on me, I can hear the chopper coming". Many Vietnamese trucks, busses and pedestrians stopped along the road to view the burning Amtrac, the burned Marines and the disaster at hand. We told the native Vietnamese people to move on quickly, tensions were very high. It would have been easy to even the score at that point.

"Several Marines were horribly burned, their flesh hung from the faces and arms and chest. They were in shock, just walking around like Zombies, in extreme pain, they couldn't sit down for long. The faces were burnt off of several Marines. I remember two marines that stood side by side, both had the same charred raw-flesh faces, one was a black Marine, the other was a white Marine, neither had the skin they were born with on their faces. We all look the same after the first layer is gone, and the pain is the same for every man. The medivac chopper air lifted out a number of Marines, (they made several trips, or may have been two choppers). Some went to the Hospital Ship off shore, and I think some were sent to the Navy Hospital at Da Nang.

"(Our old First Sergeant, Robert Kamelamela, now deceased, said the only color that ever counted was Marine Corps Green. If he said you were "green", you were "green". Everybody in our outfit was treated the same. No black, no white, just green.)

"Later that day we found that this was a frequently mined area of the road. A number of trucks and other vehicles, even a wrecker trying to retrieve a vehicle, had been damaged by mines, prior to this incident. Several incidents happen later on, after the Amtrac explosion. At the time of the explosion, it was thought that we may have entered into a mine field. We stopped the Amtracs dead in their tracks until we could determine otherwise.

"I'll never forget that day the rest of my life. I can still see the men on fire and the flesh hanging from the burned faces and arms. For many years after I came home, at times something would trigger that burnt flesh smell in my nostrils. I'm sure it was psychological. I met one other Marine about 8 years ago, in a chance encounter, who was on the Amtrac behind the explosion (don't recall if it was the #4 or #5 Amtrac. We couldn't believe that we both encountered the same incident some twenty-five, or so, years before. We each recalled different pieces of the event.

"I would like to talk with other Marines who were there and record more of the eye witness facts. I would like to get a copy of the Company Commanders incident report, but don't know where to go to make the request. I can be reached at [e-mail].

"Many good Marines were severely injured that day, some outwardly and some inwardly." - Ed Johnson

White Feather
Mine was the life the sniper saved;
it seems a lot to me.
Whoever thought I'd live to see
the age of fifty-three.

I was the scared and lonely kid
who didn't know the score,
and never saw the kinds of things
that wait inside a war.

The sniper crawled through Hell
to find the man who planned my death.
The General never got the chance
to take another breath.

There was a battle, never fought
in which I should have died,
if not for Burke and Hathcock
who, a whole platoon denied.

In the dark along the trail
she waited with her knife.
Apache Woman sought my blood
till Carlos took her life.

The fire came and seared my skin
and there I would have died,
but Hathcock came and burned himself
to rescue those inside.

I never thought I'd be alive
today to write these lines,
but when the sniper drew his bead...
the life he saved was mine.

-Jack Mergott

[woodyz]

I was trying to find a reference for my favorite Carlos Hathcock story, but have not yet.

Although he is credited with 93 kills, he estimated the real number at over 300, but he didn't care about the numbers. Back then you needed three people to witness the kill and one had to be an officer. He said no officers wanted to stay out in the bush with him for a week at a time.

I like his quote that it wasn't the kill, it was the hunt.

Anyway my favorite was when he caught a NVA column in a valley and managed to pin them down. He killed all of the officers in the first day and the rest didn't know what to do, he stayed on them for two nights and three days, picking them off one by one, changing positions after every few shots, until he ran out of ammo and had to leave the area.

I would have liked to have met him. While I was not a sniper, my missions mostly being "sneek and peeks" I did have to "get into my own bubble" and become a part of the environment I was in to stay un-found. I would have liked to have talked with him about that ability.

Reference was given to a time he stayed out too long and lost about 30 # of body weight. That I can relate to. We had a rule requiring 30 days between missions to allow you to regain your "normal" weight. (Like all rules, sometimes they were followed) We would lose 10 to 15 # on a 10 day mission. You didn't notice the weight so much but I could tell I was weaker by the additional labour it took to get back, compared to the go out trip.