Hero of the Week 83

 Welcome back viewers

This week's hero is...

Carlos Hathcock 

Intro

Carlos Norman Hathcock was born on May 20, 1942, in Little Rock, Arkansas. While he was growing up, he became an expert at hunting. He decided at an early age that he wanted to join the US Marine Corps. He enlisted on May 20, 1959. Once he completed boot camp, he was chosen to be the sniper of his platoon. It would not be long before his skills would be put to the test.

Part I

Hathcock was deployed to Vietnam in 1966. He was assigned to the 1st Marine Division Sniper Platoon. He was known for putting a white feather on his bush hat which earned him the nickname, "White Feather". His unit was posted at Hill 55 near the border of North and South Vietnam. Their missions were to patrol the area and disrupt enemy operations along the border that were supplying the Viet Cong. While on combat missions, Hathcock's skills as a sniper proved to be invaluable. He successfully broke up enemy ambushes and easily plucked enemy snipers from hidden locations in the jungle. He eventually received a very difficult mission from his superiors. He was to cross into North Vietnam and assassinate North Vietnamese general.

This general had been coordinating ambushes on American soldiers and marines. American intelligence reported that the general was located at a hidden camp just a couple miles north of the 17th Parallel. Hathcock decided that he alone would carry out this mission. For the next four days and three nights, he crawled from Hill 55 across the 17th Parallel into North Vietnam. From there, Hathcock crawled another 1,500 yards towards the NVA camp. In order to avoid drawing attention to himself, he only crawled about an inch every hour (a process he called, "worming"). Once he reached the camp's tree-line, Hathcock scanned for his target. He spotted the general exiting the camp and fired a single shot. It struck the NVA general directly in the chest and killed him instantly. Hathcock then wormed his way back to Hill 55 without being spotted to report the mission's success.

Part II

Hathcock's large number of sniper kills on the Viet Cong and NVA quickly made himself a prime target for the latter's own special operations. They referred to him as, Lông Trâng (White Feather). The NVA became so determined to kill him that they placed a $30,000 bounty on his head. In 1967, a female Viet Cong sniper began hunting for him. 

This sniper (called, the Apache by the Americans) was notorious for brutally interrogating South Vietnamese and American soldiers that were unfortunate enough to be captured. One of her favorite methods of torture was castration. Furious over the Apache's atrocities, Hathcock became determined to find and end her. When the Apache was located by Hathcock's spotter (Edward Land), Hathcock put two bullets in her head. He later stated that out of all enemies he killed in Vietnam, that was the only one he enjoyed.

Carlos Hathcock's most famous kill was a sniper known as, "the Cobra". The Cobra proved to be a highly skilled and elusive warrior. Thus began a cat and mouse game. For more than two weeks, the two snipers stalked and tracked the other. Sometimes, Hathcock was spotted in the same location for an entire day, scanning for the Cobra. When he saw the glint of scope, he realized that the Cobra had spotted him and quickly fired a single round. To his astonishment, his shot passed through the Cobra's sniper scope and directly into his eye. He then dropped his rifle and slumped to the ground. In a fraction of a second, Carlos Hathcock had achieved the impossible.

Epilogue

Hathcock continued to serve in Vietnam for another two years. He was forced to return to the United States after being severely wounded by a land mine. His total kill count was at least 93 enemy soldiers. For his valor, he received the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. He continued to serve in the Marine Corps until 1975 when he was medically discharged. In his later life, he established the Marine Sniper School at Quantico. Carlos Hathcock passed away on February 22, 1999, at the age of 56. Today, he is remembered as one of America's greatest and most skillful snipers.

https://www.military.com/marine-corps-birthday/carlos-hathcock-famous-marine-corps-sniper.html

https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_86afe846-c10b-5119-9703-2f3f6d75af7c.html

https://historycollection.com/legacy-carlos-hathcock-american-sniper-vietnam-war-took-infamous-enemies-shocked-world/