[Marine Sharpshooter 3
Tilo Chopin
He taught himself to shoot as a boy, just like Alvin York and Audie Murphy before him. He had dreamed of being a U.S. Marine his whole life and enlisted in 1959 at just 17 years old. Hathcock was an excellent sharpshooter by then, winning the Wimbledon Cup shooting championship in 1965, the year before he would deploy to Vietnam and change the face of American warfare forever.
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. This is where Hathcock would earn the nickname "White Feather" -- because he always wore a white feather on his bush hat, daring the North Vietnamese to spot him -- and where he would achieve his status as the Vietnam War's deadliest sniper in missions that sound like they were pulled from the pages of Marvel comics.
"First light and last light are the best times," he said. " In the morning, they're going out after a good night's rest, smoking, laughing. When they come back in the evenings, they're tired, lollygagging, not paying attention to detail."
He observed this first-hand, at arm's reach, when trying to dispatch a North Vietnamese Army General officer. For four days and three nights, he low crawled inch by inch, a move he called "worming," without food or sleep, more than 1500 yards to get close to the general. This was the only time he ever removed the feather from his cap.
"Over a time period like that you could forget the strategy, forget the rules and end up dead," he said. "I didn't want anyone dead, so I took the mission myself, figuring I was better than the rest of them, because I was training them."
"There were two twin .51s next to me," he said. "I started worming on my side to keep my slug trail thin. I could have tripped the patrols that came by." The general stepped out onto a porch and yawned. The general's aide stepped in front of him and by the time he moved away, the general was down, a bullet through his heart. Hathcock was 700 yards away.
"I had to get away. When I made the shot, everyone ran to the treeline because that's where the cover was." The soldiers searched for the sniper for three days as he made his way back. They never even saw him.
"Carlos became part of the environment," said Edward Land, Hathcock's commanding officer. "He totally integrated himself into the environment. He had the patience, drive, and courage to do the job. He felt very strongly that he was saving Marine lives."
"I really didn't like the killing," he once told a reporter. "You'd have to be crazy to enjoy running around the woods, killing people. But if I didn't get the enemy, they were going to kill the kids over there." Saving American lives is something Hathcock took to heart.
"She was a bad woman," Carlos Hathcock once said of the woman known as 'Apache.' "Normally kill squads would just kill a Marine and take his shoes or whatever, but the Apache was very sadistic. She would do anything to cause pain." This was the trademark of the female Viet Cong platoon leader. She captured Americans in the area around Carlos Hathcock's unit and then tortured them without mercy.
Carlos Hathcock had enough. He set out to kill Apache before she could kill any more Marines. One day, he and his spotter got a chance. The observed an NVA sniper platoon on the move. At 700 yards in, one of them stepped off the trail and Hathcock took what he calls the best shot he ever made.
"We were in the midst of switching rifles. We saw them," he remembered. "I saw a group coming, five of them. I saw her squat to pee, that's how I knew it was her. They tried to get her to stop, but she didn't stop. I stopped her. I put one extra in her for good measure."
"They had the bad luck of coming up against us," he said. "They came right up the middle of the rice paddy. I dumped the officer in front, my observer dumped the one in the back." The last officer started running the opposite direction.
"So there was no reason for us to go either," said the sniper. "No one in charge, a bunch of Ho Chi Minh's finest young go-getters, nothing but a bunch of hamburgers out there." Hathcock called artillery at all times through the coming night, with flares going on the whole time. When morning came, the NVA were still there.
Though the practice had been in use since the Korean War, Carlos Hathcock made the use of the M2 .50 caliber machine gun as a long-range sniper weapon a normal practice. He designed a rifle mount, built by Navy Seabees, which allowed him to easily convert the weapon.
Many American snipers had a bounty on their heads. These were usually worth one or two thousand dollars. The reward for the sniper with the white feather in his bush cap, however, was worth $30,000. Like a sequel to Enemy at The Gates, Hathcock became such a thorn in the side of the NVA that they eventually sent their own best sniper to kill him. He was known as the Cobra and would become Hathcock's most famous encounter in the course of the war.
"He was doing bad things," Hathcock said. "He was sent to get me, which I didn't really appreciate. He killed a gunny outside my hooch. I watched him die. I vowed I would get him some way or another." That was the plan. The Cobra would kill many Marines around Hill 55 in an attempt to draw Hathcock out of his base.
"I fell over a rotted tree. I made a mistake and he made a shot. He hit my partner's canteen. We thought he'd been hit because we felt the warmness running over his leg. But he'd just shot his canteen dead."
"We worked around to where he was," Hathcock said. "I took his old spot, he took my old spot, which was bad news for him because he was facing the sun and glinted off the lens of his scope, I saw the glint and shot the glint." White Feather had shot the Cobra just moments before the Cobra would have taken his own shot.
In 1969, a vehicle Hathcock was riding in struck a landmine and knocked the Marine unconscious. He came to and pulled seven of his fellow Marines from the burning wreckage. He left Vietnam with burns over 40 percent of his body. He received the Silver Star for this action in 1996.
After the mine ended his sniping career, he established the Marine Sniper School at Quantico, teaching Marines how to "get into the bubble," a state of complete concentration. He was in intense pain as he taught at Quantico, suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, the disease that would ultimately kill him -- something the NVA could never accomplish.
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I was in study hall tonight and my friend Mark says to me, "You know, Mr.Rogers was a very famous marine sniper. And on top of that he had to wear long sleeves because of all the 'marine tattoos' covering his arms." I was like 'OK,' and went on about my business. It seemed logical enough and he believed this whole heartedly. There was no changing his mind. Later on I started to wonder the validity of this story. If it was true, how come I had never heard it before? I researched and this is what I found.
In the summer of 2001 I was on a guided tour of the United States Pentagon conducted by a member of the United States Air Force. During our tour there IS a photo of Fred Rogers wearing BDU's and a white T-shirt. Mr Rogers was in fact a Marine sniper.
BDUs were woren by marines, army soldier, and all other branches of service, until the change over to digi cammies in the early 2000s, as for the mister roger rumor, if you want to know the truth go down to parris island history museum and tell me he is not on the wall of famous face marines.
I heard it from a from of mine friends that Mister Rogers was a marine sniper with 75 or more confirmed kills. So I decided to look it up because it didn't sound right to me and on every biograghy I read it never said Mister Rogers was a sniper. Also the marines didnt start to wear cammies somewhere around early 2001.
You idiots! I am an active duty Marine and we have NEVER called them BDU's they were ALWAYS CALLED CAMMIES. Yes we switched to digi cammies in 2000-2001 but even when we had the old stlye blotch pattern we still called them cammies
Yes, it is true he was a military sniper. my grandfather served with him. My grandfather actually recognized him on TV with no knowledge of him (Mister Rodgers) having been in vietnam. Another tid bit Mister Rodgers had the most confirmed kills for his unit.
Mr Rodgers was a marine sniper and combat proven Navy Seal in Vietnam! He was an expert in small arms and close quarters combat! He would not have has any difficulty killing any man with his bare hands if he wanted to! He had 25 confirmed kills! Lee Marvin was also a REAL Marine and Was shot in the backside half way up Iwo Jima! He's ain't lying either, he's buried in in Arlington Nation cemetary! Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it!
That's what we jokingly called him, when the was the few times to joke or just to smile of being alive. I could write volumes of the times Fred saved mine and others asses in a firefight, but that would not describe the man. He took his sniping as serious as he took his religion. Many a Grunt he comforted with biblical verse when there was nothing but death and dispair all around. Freds arms were burned badly from an overhead freindly napalm drop on area. He had pulled a tent/tarp cover down over some men and covered himself all but his arms. He never made a sound as that goopy shit sizzled on his arms. Thanks Fred and thanks for the opportunity to make this posting in honor of Fred. LTCL DW.
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