In his latest book firefights of the mind he reveals for the first time his lifelong struggle with ptsd. During the last battle of the vietnam war, three u. Showcasing 72 true stories told by american servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the. It looked good and so i bought it, and here is what its about. These 3 snipers had more kills than carlos hathcock in vietnam. You cant get into this sniper unit if you havent read it, said sergeant barrett, who has been a marine sniper for six years. Carlos norman hathcock ii may 20, 1942 february 22, 1999 was a united states marine. But there was another sniper that was also legendary, one from the marine corps. Apache was a female viet cong sniper and interrogator known as apache, because of her methods of torturing us marines and arvn troops and letting them bleed to death. That all changed when a friend and fellow marine sniper, joseph ward, published a book in 1991 that.
The 5th marine snipers set the records for the most kills, most combat operations, and lastly became the most feared adversaries that the viet cong and north vietnamese would face during the height of the bloody vietnam war. He had a bad attitude, some much disregard for his fellow marine and simply could not. Fifth marine sniper was the most decorated platoon in the vietnam war. He was a united states marine corps sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills and hundreds of probable kills during the vietnam war. Tells the exciting true story of sergeant carlos hathcock, a legendary marine sniper in the vietnam war.
Winner of the 2016 pulitzer prize for fiction, this debut novel could fit into half a dozen genres of vietnam war books from war narrative to immigrant story, from mystery to political, from metafiction to historical and even dark comedy. This book is about carlos hathcock, the distinguished marine corp sniper of the vietnam war. A quick look at marine snipers and their rifles through. Anthony swoffords experiences as an sta sniper are recounted in his book, jarhead, and the 2005 film of the same name.
It documents the circumstances behind training and employment, the equipment chosen for use, the transition from the m700 sniping rifle to the m40a1 and the extreme effectiveness of the vietnamera sniping effort overall. The vietnam war is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in 20thcentury america. Marine sniper by charles henderson penguin random house. Now i would like to talk a little about them again along with some of the supporting spotter weapons and equipment used by typical sniper teams during the. It went on to win a number of prestigious awards, including the pulitzer prize for nonfiction, national book award, and the bancroft prize.
That is just a taste of whats in store for you when you read charles hendersons book marine sniper. The explosive true story of sergeant carlos hathcock, a legendary marine sniper in the vietnam war. Marine sniper pens books, is still dealing with vietnam. Steve suttles accomplishments as a marine sniper in vietnam are legendary. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. It documents the circumstances behind training and.
The only book snipers all seem familiar with other than the bible is marine sniper. The truth about the lost marines of the vietnam wars last. The retired sergeant, who has lived on a mountainside south of big arm since 2000, has written several books about his war experiences, starting with dead center in 1999, in which he intimately shares his twoyear odyssey as a sniper. Time to hunt by stephen hunter, point of impact by stephen hunter, sniper one. He stalked the viet cong behind enemy lineson their own. Authored by journalist frances fitzgerald, this account of vietnam, its history, and the effects of its war with the united states was on the bestseller list for more than ten weeks. Prior to the publication of fellow marine sniper joseph wards book, dear mom. He is the author of the critically acclaimed military classics marine sniper and silent warrior, which first chronicled the exploits of usmc sniper carlos hathcock. Charles henderson is a veteran of more than twentythree years in the united states marine corps, with a distinguished career spanning from vietnam to the gulf war, after which he retired as a chief warrant officer. This book is a longoverdue account of, and a welldeserved tribute to, the marine corps sniper program in vietnam.
Marine corps during the vietnam war in the 1960s are still never far from his mind. He taught himself to shoot as a boy, as did alvin york and audie murphy before him. The list of war time snipers contained on this page is in no way intended to glorify the amount of people these soldiers have killed, it is intended to recognize the manner in which these soldiers excelled at accomplishing the mission assigned to them in a time of war. But wards account of mawhinneys 101 kills, most accomplished with his primary m40 modified remington 40x bolt action rifle with a redfield 39x accurange scope developed in 1966 primarily for use as the standard marine sniper rifle placed his accomplishments above even the famed hathcock. In marine sniper, the truelife missions of united states marine corps sniper carlos hathcock were revealed in compelling detail. In the past months i have written a bit about the use of and primary rifles used by the usmc for sniping use in the vietnam war. Swafford was a marine that is not to be looked upon with admiration. Long before chris kyle penned american sniper, carlos hathcock was already a legend. A vietnam war sniper crawled for 3 days across 2000m of. Read more usmc scout sniper weapons of the vietnam war. This amazing read takes you back to the vietnam war with the story of carlos white feather hathcocks life as a marine corp sniper. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre. See more ideas about vietnam, vietnam war and vietnam war photos. Vietnam saw a scramble for adequate sniper rifles with a small amount of pre64 winchester model 70s often with wwiiera unertl glasspressed into service from the marine rifle team and other.
This marine sniper left vietnam with 103 confirmed kills. He stalked the viet cong behind enemy lineson their own ground. After his death, a variant of the m25 rifle was named after him. Based on the life and times of sergeant carlos hathcock an american soldier who apparently eventually became the posterboy of the marine sniper program the book seemed an interesting prospect at first. As an example, he puts dialogue in the north vietnamese mouths and minds which detracts from the authenticity of the story. Carlos hathcock always wore a white feather on his cap, as if to dare enemy snipers to take a shot at him. He credits hathcock with 39 confirmed kills, apparently having transposed the digits of hathcocks actual 93 confirmed kills. Marines in vietnam, 1966, an expanding war, 1982 u. But there has only been one sergeant carlos hathcock. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Recently we remembered the day that navy seal chris kyle, the american sniper, was killed.
His 63 confirmed kills place him sixth among vietnam warera snipers, according to, a website dedicated to the history of military snipers worldwide. Oklahoma man recalls experience as sniper in vietnam. He had dreamed of being a us marine his whole life, and he enlisted in 1959 at just 17 years old. Im reading the book marine sniper, its about carlos hathcock in vietnam.
While carlos hathcock is perhaps the most famous sniper of the vietnam war, he actually ranks fourth in the number of confirmed kills. He deployed in 1966 as a military policeman, but immediately volunteered for combat and was soon transferred to the 1st marine division sniper platoon, stationed at hill 55, south of da nang. A snipers vietnam, carlos hathcocks 93 confirmed kills was considered the vietnam record. Honored in this country, with 93 confirmed enemy kills and having. And each time, he emerged from the jungle having done his duty. Carlos hathcock set the bar for us marine snipers during the vietnam war with 93 confirmed kills. He is the author of the critically acclaimed military classics marine sniper and silent warrior. The true story of carlos hathcock, a marine sniper in vietnam with probably over 300 kills. Carlos hathcock, the subject of the biography, was born in 1942 and died in 1999. Hathcock was outscored by three other snipers during that conflict. Charles hendersons marine sniper is a dramatized account of the life of a vietnam war sniper. Carlos hathcock, a marine sniper during the vietnam war. The garand was a great infantry rifle, but it didnt do as well for sniping. Beyond combat, hathcock was a championship shooter and a respected instructor in marksmanship and sniper skills.
She was killed in 1966 by carlos hathcock, who was part of a sniper team of the united states marine corps. The series protagonist, special agent leroy jethro gibbs, a former marine scout sniper, realized the significance of the feather as the perpetrators calling card, referencing hathcocks nickname during the vietnam war white feather sniper. He missed the marine corps, however, and returned to vietnam in 1969, where he took command of a platoon of snipers. The sniper initially started his deployment in vietnam as a military policeman before carrying out feats of stamina, skill, and endurance that wouldnt sound out of place in a historical fiction novel. In the annals of marine corps history, the name typically associated with sniping is gunnery sgt. Although there are quite a few achievements to his credit, but he is best known for preserving the achievements of his fellow snipers. This book, however, documents that 1968 was more than just the tet. This marine was the american sniper of the vietnam war. Firefights of the mind when the demons of war follow you home ed kugler is the author of dead center a marine snipers two year odyssey in the vietnam war. This page is in no way intended to glorify the amount of people these soldiers have killed, it is intended to recognize the manner in which these soldiers excelled at accomplishing the misson assigned to them in a time of war. This book came to me while i was at a book store, just looking around. He is a famous vietnam war author, particularly for preserving the history of vietnam snipers from 1967 to 1968. We are still the patriots and marines of times gone by and offer these tales of heroism, death, fear, and loyalty from the most decorated sniper unit in the vietnam war. In the book it says that he uses a winchester 70 in 3006 during his first deployment, but later in the book it said that the marines were switching over to the remington 700 in.
517 1212 1375 255 1233 385 851 540 1319 194 1418 1189 1263 775 1452 850 532 566 439 1441 356 141 1132 1508 1123 545 946 535 381 8 1038 1188 1346 617 1306 1314 552