Legendary Vietnam-Era Sniper Carlos Hathcock Held This Impressive World Record For 35 Years

US Marine Corps sniper Carlos Hathcock is famous for being one of history's greatest snipers , comparable to legendary figures like Vasily Zaytsev , Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Simo Häyhä . While serving overseas during the Vietnam War, he achieved nearly 100 confirmed kills, with many more unconfirmed. His reputation was so fearsome that the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) dispatched a sniper called "Cobra" with the sole mission of taking him down.

Carlos Hathcock served valiantly with the US Marine Corps

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

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'

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's most famous wartime tale was his encounter with "Cobra," an NVA sniper tasked with killing him . Hathcock acknowledged Cobra's skill, setting the stage for a contest of who would strike first. While navigating the dense Vietnamese jungle , Hathcock stumbled over a fallen tree. It was precisely at that moment that Cobra took a shot at him, narrowly missing and hitting Hathcock's spotter's canteen instead.

Following the missed shot, Cobra relocated, adhering to sniper protocol, and both sharpshooters maneuvered to new positions opposite their original spots. However, the NVA sniper unwittingly positioned himself with the sun at his back, exposing his location. Seizing the advantage, Hathcock swiftly took aim and eliminated his adversary before Cobra could fire another shot.

How many enemy soldiers did Carlos Hathcock dispatch?

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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The heroic Marine Corps sniper passed away on February 22, 1999, at the age of 56.