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War History Online
The Legendary Vietnam War-Era Sniper Who Reportedly Took Out 400 Enemy Troops
By Jesse Beckett,
2024-06-04
US Marine Corps sniper Carlos Hathcock is widely regarded as one of history's greatest snipers , alongside legendary figures like Vasily Zaytsev , Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Simo Häyhä . During the Vietnam War, he served overseas and amassed nearly 100 confirmed kills, with many more unconfirmed. His reputation was so formidable that the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) sent a sniper known as "Cobra" specifically to eliminate him.
Carlos Hathcock served valiantly with the US Marine Corps
Carlos Hathcock being presented with the Silver Star, 1996. (Photo Credit: Sgt. James Harbour / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)
Carlos Hathcock was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1942 to a family that heavily relied on hunting to obtain food. As a result, he became familiar with firearms at a young age. He'd wanted to serve with the US Marine Corps since childhood and enlisted when he was just 17 years old.
Hathcock was deployed to Vietnam in 1966 as a military policeman, and was quickly noted for his impressive natural talent with a rifle. Knowing his skills were useful elsewhere, his superiors transferred him to Capt. Edward James Land's sniper platoon, a role he embraced with great enthusiasm.
Taunting enemy soldiers with a white feather
US 173rd Airborne Brigade supported by helicopters during the Iron Triangle assault, 1965. (Photo Credit: Tim Page / CORBIS / Getty Images)
Before long, Hathcock had dispatched a large amount of targets and earned himself a fearsome reputation. He was known to wear a white feather during missions as a way of taunting the enemy soldiers, which became infamous among the North Vietnamese, who called him " White Feather ."
Given how lethal Hathcock was, the North Vietnamese Army placed a $30,000 bounty on his head, the highest of the war. Plenty of snipers attempted to collect the reward, but, as Marty Robbins' song "Big Iron" goes, "Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead."
Recounting his encounter with 'the Apache woman'
Carlos Hathcock in Vietnam. (Photo Credit: Carlos Hathcock's Son, Used with Permission)
Part of Carlos Hathcock's popularity stems from the great detail he went into when recounting his missions. One particularly troubling encounter for him was with "the Apache woman," a female sniper who'd been operating in the jungles of Vietnam long before he arrived, torturing captured Marines within earshot of their bases.
While out on patrol one day, Hathcock came across a group of Viet Cong fighters. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until one of them squatted down to urinate. At that moment, he knew he'd found the Apache woman and swiftly took her out.
Carlos Hathcock vs. 'Cobra'
Carlos Hathcock, 1959. (Photo Credit: USMC Archives / Flickr CC BY 2.0)
Carlos Hathcock's most famous wartime story detailed his showdown with "Cobra," an NVA sniper tasked with killing him . Hathcock admitted Cobra was skilled, so the game was on for who could get who first. While he was making his way through the Vietnamese jungle , he tripped over a fallen tree. At that exact moment, Cobra fired at him. The shot missed, striking his spotter's canteen.
Cobra then left his position, as any good sniper would, and the two opposing marksmen wound on opposite sides to where they had started. However, the NVA sniper had put himself in a compromised position, facing into the sunlight. Hathcock took the opportunity and fired, taking out the enemy soldier before he had a chance to fire another round.
How many enemy soldiers did Carlos Hathcock dispatch?
US Army troops preparing to advance on a Viet Cong sniper positions. (Photo Credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Carlos Hathcock ended his service in Vietnam with 93 confirmed kills and the world record for the longest sniper shot, which remained unbroken for 35 years. Due to the way kills were confirmed during the war, his tally is likely much higher, with he himself having estimated it to be between 300 and 400 .
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