29 Facts About Carlos Hathcock

Carlos Norman Hathcock II was a United States Marine Corps sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills.

Carlos Hathcock was honored by having a rifle named after him: a variant of the M21 dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather, for the nickname "White Feather" given to Hathcock by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam.

Carlos Hathcock grew up in Wynne, Arkansas, living with his grandmother Myrtle for the first 12 years of his life after his parents separated.

Carlos Hathcock would go into the woods with his dog and pretend to be a soldier and hunt imaginary Japanese soldiers with the German Mauser which his father, a veteran of two wars, brought back from World War II.

Carlos Hathcock dreamed of being a Marine throughout his childhood, and so on May 20,1959, his 17th birthday, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

Carlos Hathcock married Josephine "Jo" Bryan on the date of the Marine Corps birthday, November 10,1962.

In 1966, Carlos Hathcock started his deployment in the Vietnam War as a military policeman and later became a sniper after Captain Edward James Land pushed the Marines into raising snipers in every platoon.

Land later recruited Marines who had set their own records in sharpshooting; he quickly found Carlos Hathcock, who had won the Wimbledon Cup, the most prestigious prize for long-range shooting, at Camp Perry in 1965.

When Carlos Hathcock saw a glint in the bushes, he fired at it, shooting through the scope and killing the sniper.

Carlos Hathcock took possession of the dead sniper's rifle, hoping to bring it home as a "trophy", but after he turned it in and tagged it, it was stolen from the armory.

Carlos Hathcock stated in interviews that he killed a female Viet Cong platoon leader called "the Apache woman", with a reputation for torturing captive US Marines, around the firebase at Hill 55.

Carlos Hathcock said he was almost stepped on as he lay camouflaged with grass and vegetation in a meadow shortly after sunset.

Carlos Hathcock missed the Marine Corps and returned to Vietnam in 1969, where he took command of a platoon of snipers.

In 1975, Carlos Hathcock's health began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Carlos Hathcock stayed in the Marine Corps, but his health continued to decline.

Carlos Hathcock would have received only 50 percent of his final pay grade had he retired after 20 years.

Carlos Hathcock fell into a state of depression when he was forced out of the Marines because he felt as if the service had kicked him out.

Carlos Hathcock eventually picked up the hobby of shark fishing, which helped him to overcome his depression.

Carlos Hathcock provided sniper instruction to police departments and select military units, such as SEAL Team Six.

Carlos Hathcock once said that he survived in his work because of an ability to "get in the bubble", to put himself into a state of "utter, complete, absolute concentration", first with his equipment, then his environment, in which every breeze and every leaf meant something, and finally on his quarry.

Carlos Hathcock died on February 22,1999, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, aged 56, from complications resulting from multiple sclerosis.

Carlos Hathcock is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.

Staff Sergeant Carlos Hathcock was riding on an Assault Amphibious Vehicle which ran over and detonated an enemy anti-tank mine, disabling the vehicle which was immediately engulfed in flames.

In 1967, Carlos Hathcock set the record for the longest sniper kill.

Carlos Hathcock was one of several individuals to utilize the M2 Browning machine gun in the sniping role.

Turner Saddlery similarly honored Carlos Hathcock by producing a line of leather rifle slings based on his design.

Carlos Hathcock is the subject of a number of books including:.

Carlos Hathcock generally used the standard sniper rifle: the Winchester Model 70 chambered for.

Carlos Hathcock made a number of kills with this weapon in excess of 1,000 yards, including his record for the longest confirmed kill at 2,500 yards.