US Marine Corps Sniper Carlos Hathcock Took Out The NVA Sniper That Was Sent To Hunt Him Down

US Marine Corps sniper Carlos Hathcock gained renown as one of the greatest snipers in history, placing him alongside legends such as Vasily Zaytsev , Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Simo Häyhä . Throughout his service in Vietnam, he recorded almost 100 confirmed kills, with numerous others unverified. His fierce reputation prompted the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) to deploy a sniper nicknamed "Cobra" specifically tasked with eliminating him.

Carlos Hathcock served valiantly with the US Marine Corps

Carlos Hathcock was born in 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas, into a family that depended on hunting for survival, fostering his early familiarity with firearms. His lifelong ambition was to join the US Marine Corps, which he fulfilled at the age of 17.

Deployed to Vietnam in 1966 as a military policeman, Hathcock swiftly garnered attention for his natural marksmanship abilities. Recognizing his exceptional talent, his commanders reassigned him to Capt. Edward James Land's sniper platoon, a role he enthusiastically embraced.

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.