Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. No single soldier
on the battlefield is more revered or more reviled than
the sniper. They are seen as either cowardly assassins or
surgical soldiers. With a single bullet, snipers can change the
outcome of a battle or even a war. Long before
(00:31):
Chris Kyle penned American Sniper, which became Clint Eastwood's Oscar
nominated movie masterpiece, Carlos Hathcock was already a legend. Hathcock
was so efficient and fearless during the Vietnam War that
he wore a white feather on his gear, taunting the
Communists to come find him. Our next story comes to
us from Colin D. Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military
(00:55):
veterans and the founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History.
Their videos focus on military heroes, actions and events spanning
across the globe and are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people. Here's Colin Heaton with the story.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Carlos Norman Hathcock was born on May twentieth, nineteen forty two,
in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hathcock supported his extremely poor family
by shooting and hunting. At an early age, with a
twenty two caliber J. C. Higgins single shot rifle. He
later graduated to using a car ninety eight German Mauser
that his father had brought back from World War II.
(01:36):
Hathcock joined the Marines on May twentieth, nineteen fifty nine,
at the age of seventeen, and rapidly became a known quantity.
He had won the matches at Camp Perry in nineteen
sixty five and the Wimbledon Cup Shooting Championships in nineteen
sixty six. Hathcock deployed to South Vietnam as a military policeman,
but later became a sniper after Captain later Major Edward
(01:58):
James Land wanted sniper in every infantry platoon. At that time,
there was no formal snipers school in the Marine Corps,
and snipers were designated according to a marine's marksmanship record
and field expertise. Land knew right away that Hathcock was
a natural. Hathcock then went to work protecting Marines, and
one enemy was a woman. The story of the woman
(02:20):
VC called the Apache has been questioned, but here is
how Carlos explained it.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I really don't like to talk about her. Think true
she was a I don't like these bad words.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
She was a very a very bad woman, had her
own sniper platoon down here, and I don't think they
were about to get all last snippers, myself, everybody. And
she had been torturing a lot of people prior to
us getting there, and that was a primary objective kind
(03:02):
of for me. And Uh, I was in her own backyard.
She was trumpling out of mind and I didn't like that.
And she skip that one kid that she captured. This
one was a very very person.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Very person.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Saw her kind of saw the group coming in, about
five of.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
'em, and UH.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Saw her squat down to tinkle and I certained it
was her, and UH guy in front of her was
trying to get her to stop cause they were running.
I ta towards us for where they'd sing her for.
(03:55):
He was trying to get her stop. She didn't, but
I stopped her. I pulled one extra for good measure,
because I I was the best shot I ever made.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I think the best shot ever made.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
The NBA and BC called Hathcock long Train, which means
white feather, because of the white feather he kept in
the band on his bush hat.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
At that time of Vietnam.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
All the troops was wearing garbage on the dog tags,
peace symbols. Right, we need to pee someone in all
kinds of garbage, grenade pins, all kind of mess and
the hats and stuff. Well, I picked it up. Why
I picked it up just because I was.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Just going to the bed.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Guys see and the snipers don't do this. I'm not
supposed to do it. But I was kind of a
very belligerent individual, I guess as a sniper, and kind
of like to flump my authority, I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
After platoon of Vietnamese snipers failed to kill him, many
Marines in the same area donned white feathers to deceive
the enemy and confuse them. Hocheimen placed a bounty of
thirty thousand dollars on Hathcock because he was so effective,
and through a mishap they learned his name. It was
believed that one of the local women working on the
base accessed hathcock service record book. In those days, sniper
(05:24):
kills were recorded in the SRB. Generally, rewards put on
US snipers ranged from eight dollars to two thousand dollars.
Hathcock held the record for the highest bounty ever placed
on a marine, and he killed every Vietnamese sniper who
came after him. In one of the most remarkable sniper
versus snipery duels in history, Hathcock and his spaughter John
(05:44):
Roland Burke were stalking the enemy sniper called the Cobra
in the jungle near Hill fifty five. This was a
fire base southwest of Denang where the Cobra had already
killed several Marines to lure Hathcock out to kill him.
The stalking lasted for two days.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Carlo said, listen if that noway sniper was sent down
there to get me and uh which I rather didn't appreciate,
and he was doing a bad job. On the hill
they killed a gun or serting right outside my door
by hooch uh and uh I watched him die, and
uh I.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Took a bow at ten. I was gonna get him
somewhere or another.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
And uh, so I left Vietnam the first time with
eighty six confirmed and the whole gob of probables, and
I figured I was a little bit better than what
they were, so just asmidged cause I was still wid
And uh I got John Burke, who was my partner,
(06:47):
and we went out as a teammader. I trailed him,
a very cagy, very smart individual, and I figured he
was close to me, as good as I was. But
it ain't no way, ain't nobody how did that so?
And you got to think like that too, You got
to think like that. And I made a mistake. I
(07:11):
fell on a old rotted tree, and he made a
shot and hit my partner's canteen, and working up, both
thought he was hit cause all the warman's running down
overs lads and stuff. And uh, I noticed the homeless canteens.
You ain't hurt, Yeah, you ain't hurt. Just to kill
(07:32):
the devil outed canteen, that's all. And we mos it
around and mingled around, and he started running. The bad
guy started running now, and we worked around to where
I was in his old spot. He was in my
n old spot, which was a bad thing for him,
cause he was facing the sun by that time.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
That was afternoon by then, and.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Uh the sun glanted off his lands of the scope,
I guess, and which I didn't know at that time. Well,
I saw the glint. I shot at where the glint
was and it just happened to me the right time.
And by looks of things. I was just the quickest
(08:18):
on the trigger otherwise, Andrey kill me because I shot
right through his cup, right straight through his cup, didn't
touch side, didn't touch the size, and it didn't do
his eyesight no good in that side either.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Hathcock and Burke collected the dead sniper's rifle, as Hathcock
wanted to keep it as a trophy, but it was
later stolen from the armory after he checked it in.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And you're listening to the story of Carlos Hathcock, and
it's being told by Colin Heaton and Mike Droberg of
Forgotten History, and you're also hearing from Carlos Hathcock himself.
Born in Little Rock, he supported his family hunting and
obviously that marksmanship came in handy when at seventeen he
(09:03):
signed up for the Marines. There was a thirty thousand
dollars bounty on his head by Ho Chi Minh himself.
That's how feared Hathcock was. When we come back, more
of this remarkable story a true American sniper, And believe me,
you want a good sniper on your team in deployment
for sure. More of this remarkable story here on our
(09:27):
American stories, and we continue with our American stories. Few
Vietnam ear marines are more storied than legendary sniper Carlos Hathcock.
(09:48):
Yet his legend is not rooted in confirmed kills or
the longest shots taken, but we held both records in
his lifetime. It was his talents for tracking and hunting.
There were his greatest weapons. He taught himself to shoot
as a boy, just like Alvin York and Audie Murphy
before him. He dreamed of being a US Marine his
(10:08):
whole life and enlisted, as I said before, at the
age of seventeen. Hathcock was a world class sharpshooter, by then,
winning the Wimbledon Cup shooting Championship in nineteen sixty five,
the year before he would deploy to Vietnam and change
the face of American warfare forever. I like shooting and
(10:28):
I love hunting, but I never did enjoy killing anybody.
It's my job, he said famously. Let's continue with the story.
Here again is Colin Heaton.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Hathcock was offered a top secret mission, which he accepted,
knowing nothing about it until he was briefed after acceptance.
The mission was to kill a North Vietnamese general far
behind the enemy lines, and he would be alone this time.
Following his insertions several miles away, way he entered the
enemy controlled area. It took him four days and three
(11:04):
nights without sleep as he crawled inch by inch over
one thousand, five hundred yards of an open field, after
already covering two miles just to get to that point.
Hathcock was wearing a hastily assembled gilla suit from the
local vegetation to blend in with the surrounding terrain, and
he was almost stepped on by patrols as he laid
(11:24):
camouflage with grass and vegetation in a meadow shortly after sunset.
During this process, he came face to face with a
deadly bamboo viper and managed to outlast the reptile until
it crawled away. He then managed to complete the stalk
and get into a concealed position, and not long afterward,
the general came into view.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
I did not want none of my people did, so
I took the mission on myself and, figuring I was
maybe a little bit better than I'll, rushed up because
I was one training supposed.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
To be better.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
And uh, I come out of the tree line back
there and UH got onto the oak land and I
went to my side. I didn't go flat on the belly,
cause I made a bigger slug trail.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
When I was on my belly, and I wormed.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
On my side very minutely, very manutely. I knew had
a long ways to get. They want to tire myself
up too much, and UH patrols were went in alarms
for each on me. I could have tripped the majority
some of 'em.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
And they didn't even know I was there. I was
in their backyard.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
I was in their backyard, and they expect a one
man attack. They didn't expect that, okay, And I knew
from the first time when they's come up wiley, gag.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
And buy me that I hadn't made. Now just be good,
this be real good.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
So I just continued squirming along, worming a law and
UH come many patrol many patrols come by. There was
two UH twenty fifty one on my left, two twin
fifty one's on my right, and I see them cooking
their groceries and wishing I was there to have a
(13:15):
little bit of it.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
But I was definitely hungry. I was thirsty. But you
got a job today, can't lend now that enter just
you're in your bubble and that's all it is. Your job,
your job, and crawl up.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
On that little rise with an escape route to my right,
and that's made her to win. And the temporary humidity,
the whole ball of wax try to run through my
mind real quick, and I dumped the bad guy.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Halfcock fired a single shot that struck the general in
the chest, killing him from a distance of seven hundred
yards using his preferred Winchester three hundred magnum bolt action rifle.
Carlos was deep inside the enemy compound, but this was
the easy part. Now he had to escape the area
without being captured. His egress and evasion was on. He
(14:17):
egressed out of the area as the soldiers went into
the trees to hide, and he made his escape without
being actively pursued. That is the toughest part of a
deep penetration mission, surviving After making the shot. On September sixteenth,
nineteen sixty nine, Hathcock was riding on an LVTP five
armored personnel carrier full of marines on Highway one north
(14:39):
of Landing Zone Baldy, a U S Marine Corps and
Army Army of Republic Vietnam base located northwest of Chuli
in Quangdan Province. When the APC rolled over an anti
tank mine. The explosion rocked the heavy vehicle and wounded
all the Marines on board, and a fire broke out.
Hathcock jumped off and ran to the rear and pulled
(15:01):
seven marines from the vehicle, which was an incinerator. Hathcock
then collapsed, suffering first, second and third degree burns to
his face, arms, and legs, and his uniform was aflame.
Another marine grabbed him and pulled him away and placed
him in water alongside the road in a rice paddy,
and he was still smoking while recovering. Hathcock received the
Purple Heart. Nearly thirty years later, he received the Silver
(15:24):
Star for this action saving those marines. Although Hathcock had
ninety three confirmed kills which had to be confirmed about
the spotter and a third party who had to be
an officer, he estimated that he had killed between three
hundred and four hundred enemy personnel during the Vietnam War. However,
not to be sidelined, Hathcock returned to active duty and
(15:46):
along with now Major ed Land, established the Marine Corps
Sniper School at Marine Corps based Quantico, Virginia. The results
of his efforts saw the establishments of Scout sniper schools
at Stones Bay Camp p Lejiu, North Carolina, Camp Pendleton,
cal California, and Marine Corps based County Yoe Bay in Hawaii.
Despite returning to active duty, Hathcock was in daily constant pain,
(16:08):
but he continued teaching snipers. Hathcock's health began to deteriorate,
and in nineteen seventy five he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,
and he was medically retired with full benefits and one
hundred percent of his pay, just fifty five days short
of the full twenty year retirement requirement. Hathcock was honored
by having a rifle named after him, derived from the
(16:30):
older semi automatic in fourteen and named the Springfield Armory
M twenty five White Feather due to his nickname. I
met Carlos Hathcock twice. Having been a snipper myself, I
was well versed in his exploits. Carlos summed up his philosophy.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
The second moved fact was great. It's very very great
and very harmful. The bad guys very harmful. One shot,
one shot up put a whole company down, a whole
company because it denies him movement. It denies the movement,
restricts their movement. And that's which is good for Lanian,
(17:09):
very good for Lanian. I did not like to kill him.
I really didn't like to kill him. But to pit
myself against another living, breathing human being.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Who could kill me as squeak as I could him,
that was a challenge of it. That was a challenge.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
See only when you're needed, only when you're needed, or
you the good guy, only when you're needed, seems like
because that's training in those powers that are they look
down on snipers and everybody else looks down on snippers
because we have a job. People down below do not
(17:48):
understand that job, do not understand what can be done
for by s night.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Carlos Hathcock, the legendary White Feather, died on February twenty
second nine in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is buried at
Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia, and his legend still stands.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And a terrific job on the editing storytelling in production
by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to
Colin de Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military veterans and
the founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History and terrific
partners of this show. Visit their YouTube channel, visit it often.
And a special thanks posthumously to the legend to the
(18:33):
great Carlos Hathcock, this sniper par excellence who in the
end started marine sniper training. It had not existed before.
And my own mother's brother, well, he did something called
paratrooping which had not existed before in World War Two,
and so many of those innovators and those dreamers paid
(18:57):
the price of being the first. And imagine being a
sniper without training, because it is one of the deadliest
jobs there is in the military, because the other guy
sniper is looking for yours and yours theirs. It is
a very special and very singular type of talent. And
(19:18):
my goodness, that secret assignment that he described to kill
a Vietnamese general, and how many lives it could save.
Crawling those fifteen hundred yards, as he said, squirming, not
just crawling like a snake, and then I dumped the
bad guy with his Winchester Bolt action rifle. The hard part,
(19:39):
of course, to get away. And what a thing so
many of our soldiers do for us, doing things like this,
crawling in a swamp. And of course the record is surreal,
ninety three confirmed kills and estimated three hundred or more
by his account, and then establishing the Marine Corps Sniper School,
(20:00):
and ultimately his final statement, I did not like the killing.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
It was his job.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
The story of Carlos Hathcock, the legendary White Feather, an
American sniper. Here on our American stories