I read his book in the 90’s when I was in the Marines. You should read it. There is a mission he went on to kill a Vietnamese bigwig. Absolute crazy mission and story. He got in, did the deed, and got out. And not one Vietnamese soldier saw him. Crawling across the open ground which took him days, he came face to face with a poisonous snake and stared it down, it slithered away. Vietnamese soldiers walked right by him as he was on the ground, and never realized he was there.
I read that book in the late 80's. I also liked the story where he pinned down a platoon of North Vietnamese for most of the day. He had shot several & they jumped into a large ditch or ravine, & every time one stuck his head up or tried to exit, he shot them. He would shoot then move to another position, so they did not know exactly where he was. They were stuck there until it got dark & Hathcock left the area. Good book did not want to put the book down.
They never mentioned how he took days to creep into position and took out a high ranking NVA officer and escaped to tell about it. That was taken from his book.
Fact: The whole reason why Hathcock wore a white feather on his hat was to be recognized.... it was intentional on his part. Hathcock was taunting his enemies, much like Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone, saying: "I'm your huckleberry" and "You're a daisy if you do"
Hathcock once said (paraphrasing, of course) that the only faces that ever haunted his dreams were the ones that got away. He said he just knew they went onto to kill some of his fellow Marines.
While he was no sniper, my father was an extremely good shot who also learned to shoot out of necessity. Dad was born in 1913 and grew up in the Great Depression. Just like Hathcock, my Dad hunted (and fished) to feed the family. He was the oldest of 6 children and Grandma said that if not for the meat and fish Dad brought home there wouldn’t have been meat on the table. When he was drafted in 1941 other soldiers noticed right away that he was an excellent shot and many asked him for help in getting their own skills up to scratch. When I was a boy and he was teaching me to shoot, Dad used to put an empty .22 cal ammo box on a stick and spin it by just shooting the corners. I had a friend who met Carlos Hathcock in real life. He said you could feel his eyes on you if he looked at you across a crowded room.
Look up his Elephant Valley story... him and his spotter pinned down an entire NVA battalion for a a few days if I remember correctly. When they finally ran low of ammo they called in an arty strike
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills is his book, very good read. I wish they had mentioned the mission to take out a high ranking NVA General where he spent 3 days crawling into range. Another was the Elephant Valley mission where he and his spotter tied up an entire NVA company for 2-3 days. Both of those are in his book.
Can't believe they don't mention the mission where he crawled over 1,500 yards through a field for four days and three nights without sleep, and with constant inch-by-inch crawling, to shoot a PAVN general.
His unofficial numbers are more than likely accurate because he once pinned down an entire nva battalion by himself dude did alot of deployments to Vietnam so its quite possible
That shot on Cobra has been done in many movies. It wasn’t that he wanted to be away from his wife but he wanted to help and bring home his brother. After head trauma the Marine Corps let me go. When my MRI came back I was trying to complete a unit transfer with the army. My MRI showed I had multiple sclerosis. They have a few snipers who have mad longer shots but that was with modern scopes and it was in double and triple canopy jungle, the longer shot have been mad in the desert
can we all take a moment to appreciate the severety of that scenario. every sniper the NVA/VC had was actively HUNTING this man. think about that, dozens of proffessional killers, practiced in hunting humans all hunting you and any 1 moment could be ur last cause u never know if somewhere in the dense jungle a thousands meters from u is a sniper about to put a bullet in you. they killed a guy right outside his barracks! you could be takin a dump at the latrine and bam. everything goes black and ur corpse falls into the latrine. thats the reality this guy lived in. and he was fearless about it... the size of this mans bollocks. he wore a bright white feather to dare the enemy to spot him. im shocked they didnt find him by following the drag marks where he draggin his titanic testies on the ground.
Yep and people tend to underestimate the skills of the enemy's soldiers. When you realize that those enemy soldiers were also very very skilled it's even more amazing that he managed to evade them.
I had the privilege of meeting Carlos Hathcock at a gun show in Hampton, Virginia. I want to say it was around 1996. He was doing a book signing and even though I had already purchased his book I bought another one to get his signature. By that time MS pretty much had him wheelchair bound but his mind was sharp as a tack.
You should check out Sayma Heyha, Finnish, WWII. I believe he has the highest kill count ever, and he never used a scope. Also, he hit incredible distances accurately without a scope. Amazing person and very humble. A Finnish Narional hero.❤ I mispelled his name. It's Simo Hayha. There's dots above the a's in the last name. 😊
I did a little research into the deadliest snipers in history: Simo Häyhä of Finnland,was arguably the most prolific sniper of all time, earning the nickname “White Death” with up to 505 kills in the Finnish-Russian Winter War of 1939. Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with killing 309 enemy combatants. Vasily Zaytsev was a Soviet sniper during World War II. He is credited with 242 kills (including 11 German snipers). Chris Kyle was a US Navy SEAL sniper. During 4 tours of duty in the Iraq War, Kyle is credited with 160 confirmed kills during his military career. Charles Mawhinney was a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War. Carlos Hathcock, nicknamed "White Feather", was a United States Marine with a service record of 93 confirmed kills during the Vietnam War. His unconfirmed kills number between 300 and 400.
@@jamesgodeaux5202 I think you’re right on that it’s been awhile since I’ve looked in to Hathcock’s career. I do remember he faced an enemy platoon, but I think Eaton was the helicopter crash sniper
Chuck Mawhinney actually had the most confirmed kills in Nam at 103. Mawhinney also had 216 probable kills. Hathcock had 93 confirmed and a further 300 plus probable.
I was a Medic and during Vietnam our medical Evacuation was superb. From the battlefield there was an elaborate chain of medical facilities with immediate care of life threatening wounds and once stabilized, wounded went to more and mor sophisticated hospitals. An entire branch of the US Air Force was tasked with transport out of Vietnam to Japan or other pacific bases with appropriate medical care. Wounded were "triaged" with severe cases sometimes flown directly back to the US in cargo planes fitted with complete Intensive care equipment. Doctors and Nurses who gave them hospital quality care throughout the flights. Extremely severe cases were provided with their own I.C.U. nurse for the entire flight to constantly monitor them. Once in the US, the wounded were sent to military hospitals all over the US that specialized in different types of care. The sniper Hathcock was transported to Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio Texas which is the premier burn care center in the US. It is also where all Army Medical personnel were trained in those days. The medical evacuation chain of care had a general officer that conducted a daily assessment of ALL medical evacuation flights and tracked those flights around the world. He was briefed on particular issues with emergency cases onboard flights and could divert them to medical facilities along the flight paths if patients could not survive until their destination without immediate surgeries. Status of all patients was constantly communicated and weather along the flights across the Pacific to avoid storms and there were contingencies for every possible situation. If I am not mistaken, the survival rate for our wounded was in the high 95+% range overall. The critical factor in US Medical success was to get the wounded off the battlefield and to a nearby field hospital within 1 hour, called "the golden hour). The care of our wounded was a huge undertaking with a constant stream of airlift around the world for the entire war and we perfected extremely good survival of our wounded.
Great video on Hathcock. I would not want to go thru sniper training. Having to lay in holes and hiding waiting for the target. A great book about Vietnam is "The 13th Valley" by John M Del Vecchio. It's a novel but is said to be really accurate. It spends much of the time in the jungle following an old vet (Egan) and a new guy (Cherry). You feel like you are there.
$30,000 from 1965 would be equivalent to somewhere between $217,804 and $263,641 in today's money (2024) Carlos Hathcock (USA): Over 90 confirmed kills (many unconfirmed) - Vietnam. Simo Häyhä (Finland): Over 500 kills - Nicknamed "The White Death," he holds the record for documented sniper kills during the Winter War (1939-1940). Vasily Zaytsev (Soviet Union): 428+ kills - Famous for his role in the Battle of Stalingrad (WWII).
a service record of 93 confirmed kills. so that is not accurate. Häyhä estimated in his private war memoir that he shot around 500 Soviet soldiers. Most of his kills were not Confirmed Not sure if you had it backward or just wrong but these are facts!
thats why he is still a hero here and has my respect too.. i am a corporan at at army engineering.. and if war comes I will go asap@@jacquelinejohnson9447
The White Death did those in 90 days, according to his squad records, averaging 10+ per day, with records in the 30's. The man didn't hunt people, he hunted platoons.
All the "Dark" channels are amazing, but I swear every video has one ridiculously bad error in them. After years of watching them, I just listen to the greatness and wait for the "WTF did you just say?" moment. 😆
I would recommend reading his biography. The 300-400 might be slightly exaggerated but not by much. That video didn't touch on his crazier stuff like slow crawling behind enemy lines for 3 days to get to a spot to shoot an enemy General. In my opinion given the equipment he had and the time frame I would list him easily in the top 3 snipers of all time.
Just going to say that the Winchester Model 70 is a classic. I own a scout model 30-06, and it kicks like a mule. But it’s was so accurate out of the box. Never needed anything done to it.
@3:45, Carlos Hathcock used a Browning M2 .50 BMG heavy machine gun to make his (then) record sniper kill of 2,500 yards. He wouldn't have attempted such a shot with his Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 Springfield. The only way to shoot that far with a standard rifle cartridge would be with indirect fire. With direct fire, bullet drop at that range would be measured in hundreds of inches. Carlos Hathcock was credited with 93 confirmed kills. There are six other American snipers credited with a greater number of confirmed kills. The late Chris Kyle is #1 with 160 confirmed kills. So far, the sniper with the most confirmed kills in history is Simo Häyhä (aka White Death) of Finland. His tally was 505 with his rifle; he had several hundred more kills with a submachine gun. This all took place during a 100 day span during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union.
@@Montweezy Nicholas Irving is Full of SH-t. he has a lot of Military guys Angry he has made some real stupid claims Example a .50 Cal will not remove a limb just by going past the target and not directly hitting the target that's all lies and fan boy Crap. HE was a Great sniper but unfortunately his lack of reality after service is what he is forcing people to remember him for and a lot of his Stories are Lacking facts.
while all of that is true...what your not taking into account is there's also an " unconfirmed " kills list...and Gunny Hathcocks is 300 + no other American sniper even gets to 100 unconfirmed...(at least at the last time of my looking at the list a few years ago)
He grew up in the great depression when bullets were expensive missing was expensive and you wouldn’t eat shooting rabbits with a 22 bolt action rifle he was deadly accurate without even having to aim which you’d have to be to get a rabbit by the time you got it up to your shoulder and lined up the rabbit was gone when he shot the sniper through the scope. He was actually in the prone position, crawling through the jungle the glimmer caught his side peripheral, and he just quickly swung the rifle around and away from his body and fired.
Hathcock was probably the most famous sniper from Vietnam but he was 3rd as far as confirmed kills in that conflict. Chris Kyle is credited with the most confirmed kills in US sniper history.
Your right i myself was taught at the age of 5 years old and in return taught my children at 5 also I have been shooting for 55 years now my grandchildren are also in training ever since they turned 5 keeping the tradition going for generations to come
I've owned a few of those Mosin-Nagant 91-30 rifles, and none were super accurate. Maybe because they were old surplus rifles that you could pick up in the 90s for $49.95 every day of the week. My Springfield M1A National Match in .308 is a whole other story. What an amazing person.
Pre WW-2 made 91/30s (ie 1920-1930s) were half-way decently made. If you smoothed out the trigger sear and spot on the firing pin release where it interfaced you could smoothen up the action. WWII era 91/30’s looked like they were machined by a drunk Russian 12 year old.
Marine Sniper : 93 confirmed kills is the book. As others have said you have to look into the elephant valley mission. On one ever talks about what I think was the most amazing thing he did was to use a Ma Due fitted with a scope to snipe. that was the weapon Carlos was using when he set the distance record, not his rifle.
Got say I had the privilege to meet Carlos in 1990 or 1991 at Naval Weapons station Virginia at our Marine Corps Ball. Had a picture with him which i I have lost. But it was a Honor to meet a legend. It was sad to see how his injuries and illness effected him. I true marine legend. Semper Fi Mr. Hathcock.
I read a book about him years ago. When it came to his shot that killed the Cobra. He said the only way he could have done that was the other sniper had him in the cross hairs and he just pulled the trigger first.
He was treated at a field hospital in Nam In Japan, the hospital is top tier He was moved to Brooks for two reasons 1st to clear beds for new severe injuries 2nd Brooks, Ft. Sam Houston is the top tier for burns
They forgot a lot of good details like how he turned a browning machine gun into a sniper rifle and how he won several long range shooting competitions after he discharged
Hey bud, do an episode on your full kit in the royal marines. I'm interested to know what you guys do differently across the pond, and what personal items you found were good to bring along.
Widely considered to be the most deadly sniper of all time is Simo Hayha in the Finnish Winter War. He only used iron sights and became such a high value target to the Russians that they would send out decoy groups for him to shoot at and then bombard the general area the shots came from with artillery.
They left out the biggest story as mentioned down in other comments about the mission to take out an army General. I can't believe this story was not included.
I met Gunny Hatchcock (and Gunner Henderson) at my Marine Corps League in NY in the late 80's. Being in a USMC Reserve Scout/Sniper (STA) platoon at the time, it was awestruck. He signed his book, "93 Confirmed Kills" and a few of us talked (listened) the night away (he only drank ginger ale). He was in NY for a shark fishing trip we had planned for him. 93 "confirmed" kills, but untold amount of actual kills. Marine Chuck Mawhinney actually had 103 confirmed kills in Vietnam. In Army doctrine at the time, 'snipers' were often used more like a Designated Marksman, operating closer to the front line and had more targets/kills. Marine snipers often worked alone (2-man teams) and called in artillery, only shooting when appropriate. There's a great YT video of SeAL sniper Chris Kyle on Conan O'Brian. th-cam.com/video/IiVDtNjORbY/w-d-xo.html (2:25 mark) When asked about his 160 confirmed kills and being the best US sniper of all-time, he said Carlos Hatchcock was, citing the Gunny Hathcock didn't have nearly the targets of opportunity in Vietnam that he did in Iraq. THESE people should be our millionaires, before entertainers get their money. /rant
I tend to believe Hathcock when he quotes 300-400. No one would know better than him. There was a sniper from Finland who was better in WWII I believe. Simo Hayha with over 500 kills. He was nicknamed White Death by his enemies. My brother was a sniper in the 82nd Airborne. He doesn’t talk much about it.
I’m watching this while hunting turkeys here in Missouri. Hunting for my own food is something I grew up doing. I’m a Marine as well. Not a white feather but deadly enough.
That’s why he did it, the feather. It was his way of wagging his finger at the enemy. Like most of us Southerners Carlos grew up hunting and fishing, learning to stalk game and move silently in the woods. Apache was known for skinning her victims alive within hearing and view of G.I.’s. Hathcock said he really enjoyed killing her.
In terms of confirmed kills Sgt Hathcock's 93 is second in Corps history. Chuck Mawhinney, who passed in February of this year, had 103 confirmed. They were both passed by Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's 160. In this case however the confirmed number does not tell the entire story. Sgt Hathcock had such a total skill set (marksmanship, tracking, land navigation, stealth, concealment) to do what he did, when he did it, that it is hard to comprehend. Chris Kyle acknowledged that while his total is greater Hathcock was in his opinion a superior sniper. The 2,500 yard shot was not made with a 30-06 Winchester rifle. That is more than double its range. That shot was made using an M2 Browning 50 caliber machine gun.
-Chris Kyle I believe is still known as the deadliest sniper in US history... (165 confirmed kills and 95 unconfirmed) -Also, you should check out Nicholas Irving, a special operations sniper in the Army Ranger know as "The Reaper" (33 confirmed kills in less than 4 months. His rifle was named "Dirty Diana". Would have probably had triple digit kills if others could be confirmed)
Hey Marine Read "Marine Sniper:93 Confirmed Kills." Hathcock crawled through waist high grass to eliminate a NV General. Took a couple of days. Then he had to crawl back. This guy was inhuman. You do some good stuff Go Navy
Author Stephen Hunter based his character, Bob Lee Swagger, on Carlos Hathcock. The book " Time To Hunt" is loosely based on the story in the above video. It's good readin' !
You need to see the actual Carlos Hathcock interviews, if you really want to see and understand what he thought. He seemed like someone who understood exactly why he was there and he also seemed to be quite ok with what he had done.
my first job was at 8. We lived adjacent to a cattle ranch. The rancher paid me $1 for each varmint I shot on his land. Coyotes, prairie dogs and other things. Used a .22 rifle.
Check out Chuck Mawinny. Hathcock was there for 8 years. Chuck was there less than a year. I've got #32 of 103 rifles. He was over there for less than a year 103 confirmed and 265 probables. M40 is a remarkable rifle.
Its approx 320k now. Also, if a tree saved my life by tripping me, id plant a whole orchard of whatever tree it was when i got home. Or maybe a kids book, the Tripping Tree.
The book is called the Marine sniper 93 confirmer kills and they didn't even tell the best story about how him and his spotter held down an entire company for 6 days in elephant valley and the time he took down an NBA general by worm crawling across 1,000+ yards of open ground over 3 days you really need to read the book
Hello, no it doesn't mean more about his wife, Hathcock was keeping his "brothers in arms" from being wounded/killed! That's the mentality and job of a good sniper!!! Just say'n...🧐 If ya don't have that ya shouldn't be in that position!!! Be safe and take care, "God Bless", sincerely, Randy. 😇🙏👊 P.S.: Ya need to check out the personal interview by either a reporter or 20/20 or 60 Minutes...
Generally the most successful sniper in the world was Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper who achieved over 500 kills in less than 100 days service in the Winter War, before he was wounded by a Russian tank round. His weapon of choice was a Finnish Mosin Nagant rifle, using only iron sights as the cold weather often fogged up optic glass.
One of my favorite Hathcock missions, which the video didn't revisit-was hathcock belly crawl into the middle of a vietcong camp at night to "eliminate" a General and somehow, in the ensuing caos manage to get away. What a legend!
Yes, what crawling 2 or 3 days in a open field literally in the enemies backyard, patrols nearly stepping on him repeatedly, gets his shot and bounces because the enemy instinctively ran to the wood line because who is crazy enough to slink across a open field 😂
One of the most deadly Snipers in History wasLyudmila Pavlichenko is considered the most successful female sniper in history, with 309 recorded kills during World War II. She was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during the sieges of Odessa and Sevastopol, and was known as "Lady Death" by her enemies. Pavlichenko was born in 1916 in Belaya Tserkov, Ukraine, and died in Moscow in 1974. She was the only female sniper in the Red Army to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union award while still alive.  The National WWII Museum “Lady Death” of the Red Army: Lyudmila Pavlichenko | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans Mar 22, 2021  en.wikipedia.org Lyudmila Pavlichenko - Wikipedia Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with killing 309 enemy combatants. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odessa and the siege of Sevastopol, during the early stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front. Her score of 309 kills likely ...  National Park Service "Lady Death" and The First Lady - National Park Service Feb 23, 2022 - Lyudmila Pavlichenko passed away in 1974. She was one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army and one of 500 who survived. She was also the only one of these women who received the Hero of the Soviet Union award, the highest award in the Soviet military, while she was still alive.  amazon.com.au Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin's Sniper : Pavlichenko, Lyudmila Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the top scoring snipers of World War II with 309 recorded kills. She died on October 10th 1974.  simple.wikipedia.org Lyudmila Pavlichenko - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ... Lyudimila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko (12 July 1916 - 10 October 1974 was a Soviet sniper. She shot German soldiers in World War 2. She was one of the top military snipers of all time, and is credited with 309 kills. She was the most successful female sniper in history.
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Not anymore, a Canadian sniper now has the longest kill of 3500 meters
Vietnam was brutal both physically and mentally. Most don't know that it was never declared as a war, it was a "Police Action" so many things were never used so that it might have actually been won. Many of us who were there referred to it as the "South East Asian War Games" and even now, most of us suffer the aftereffects of having been participants.
Gunny Hathcock was an amazing man. We loved him and love him still. He would go through anything you threw at him for his country. He'd go through infinitely more hell for his Marine brothers and sisters. YES, Gunny got between 300 and 400 enemies. He and his spotter took out an entire NVA Company in one engagement. He tried to disassociate the enemy by calling them "Hamburgers" and "Hot Dogs". Every single engagement pained him.
I read his book in the 90’s when I was in the Marines. You should read it. There is a mission he went on to kill a Vietnamese bigwig. Absolute crazy mission and story. He got in, did the deed, and got out. And not one Vietnamese soldier saw him. Crawling across the open ground which took him days, he came face to face with a poisonous snake and stared it down, it slithered away. Vietnamese soldiers walked right by him as he was on the ground, and never realized he was there.
I read the same book. I served in 1/1 during the 80's, the exact mission you're referencing had me on the edge of my seat while I read that chapter.
Great book and amazing man.
If memory serves that specific mission was one of if not the only mission where he didn’t wear his namesake white feather.
I read that book in the late 80's. I also liked the story where he pinned down a platoon of North Vietnamese for most of the day. He had shot several & they jumped into a large ditch or ravine, & every time one stuck his head up or tried to exit, he shot them. He would shoot then move to another position, so they did not know exactly where he was. They were stuck there until it got dark & Hathcock left the area. Good book did not want to put the book down.
@@HornoDevilDawg absolutely agree with you.
When I was stationed at camp lejuene I had the pleasure of meeting Carlos hathcock awesome dude
Awe shit I hope you're getting your water lawsuit money 😂
They never mentioned how he took days to creep into position and took out a high ranking NVA officer and escaped to tell about it. That was taken from his book.
When you factor in the tropical Asian bug's he endured while getting in position mskes it more impressive.
Fact: The whole reason why Hathcock wore a white feather on his hat was to be recognized.... it was intentional on his part. Hathcock was taunting his enemies, much like Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone, saying: "I'm your huckleberry" and "You're a daisy if you do"
Hathcock once said (paraphrasing, of course) that the only faces that ever haunted his dreams were the ones that got away. He said he just knew they went onto to kill some of his fellow Marines.
While he was no sniper, my father was an extremely good shot who also learned to shoot out of necessity. Dad was born in 1913 and grew up in the Great Depression. Just like Hathcock, my Dad hunted (and fished) to feed the family. He was the oldest of 6 children and Grandma said that if not for the meat and fish Dad brought home there wouldn’t have been meat on the table. When he was drafted in 1941 other soldiers noticed right away that he was an excellent shot and many asked him for help in getting their own skills up to scratch. When I was a boy and he was teaching me to shoot, Dad used to put an empty .22 cal ammo box on a stick and spin it by just shooting the corners.
I had a friend who met Carlos Hathcock in real life. He said you could feel his eyes on you if he looked at you across a crowded room.
The movie "Saving private Ryan" has a nod to Carlos Hathcock, where a German sniper gets shot through the scope
So does the movie Sniper with Tom Berringer
“I think that says more about his wife and kids than it does about him!” 😂LOL PURE GOLD.
Look up his Elephant Valley story... him and his spotter pinned down an entire NVA battalion for a a few days if I remember correctly. When they finally ran low of ammo they called in an arty strike
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills is his book, very good read. I wish they had mentioned the mission to take out a high ranking NVA General where he spent 3 days crawling into range. Another was the Elephant Valley mission where he and his spotter tied up an entire NVA company for 2-3 days. Both of those are in his book.
Can't believe they don't mention the mission where he crawled over 1,500 yards through a field for four days and three nights without sleep, and with constant inch-by-inch crawling, to shoot a PAVN general.
That's my favorite Carlos Hathcock story and I think a NVA patrol almost stepped on him on that mission.
With a 50 cal machine gun rigged up with a scope, no less.
That amazed me as well
In 66 my parents paid $17k for a large house in great Long Island neighborhood and a Corvette was $4k.i hope that puts it into some perspective.
That 30k would go so much further in Nam as well.
His unofficial numbers are more than likely accurate because he once pinned down an entire nva battalion by himself dude did alot of deployments to Vietnam so its quite possible
That shot on Cobra has been done in many movies. It wasn’t that he wanted to be away from his wife but he wanted to help and bring home his brother. After head trauma the Marine Corps let me go. When my MRI came back I was trying to complete a unit transfer with the army. My MRI showed I had multiple sclerosis. They have a few snipers who have mad longer shots but that was with modern scopes and it was in double and triple canopy jungle, the longer shot have been mad in the desert
can we all take a moment to appreciate the severety of that scenario. every sniper the NVA/VC had was actively HUNTING this man. think about that, dozens of proffessional killers, practiced in hunting humans all hunting you and any 1 moment could be ur last cause u never know if somewhere in the dense jungle a thousands meters from u is a sniper about to put a bullet in you. they killed a guy right outside his barracks! you could be takin a dump at the latrine and bam. everything goes black and ur corpse falls into the latrine. thats the reality this guy lived in. and he was fearless about it... the size of this mans bollocks. he wore a bright white feather to dare the enemy to spot him. im shocked they didnt find him by following the drag marks where he draggin his titanic testies on the ground.
Yep and people tend to underestimate the skills of the enemy's soldiers. When you realize that those enemy soldiers were also very very skilled it's even more amazing that he managed to evade them.
I had the privilege of meeting Carlos Hathcock at a gun show in Hampton, Virginia. I want to say it was around 1996. He was doing a book signing and even though I had already purchased his book I bought another one to get his signature. By that time MS pretty much had him wheelchair bound but his mind was sharp as a tack.
You should check out Sayma Heyha, Finnish, WWII. I believe he has the highest kill count ever, and he never used a scope. Also, he hit incredible distances accurately without a scope. Amazing person and very humble. A Finnish Narional hero.❤ I mispelled his name. It's Simo Hayha. There's dots above the a's in the last name. 😊
Anyone who is interested in snipers knows his name, He was definitely a G too.
The White Death!
I did a little research into the deadliest snipers in history:
Simo Häyhä of Finnland,was arguably the most prolific sniper of all time, earning the nickname “White Death” with up to 505 kills in the Finnish-Russian Winter War of 1939.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with killing 309 enemy combatants.
Vasily Zaytsev was a Soviet sniper during World War II. He is credited with 242 kills (including 11 German snipers).
Chris Kyle was a US Navy SEAL sniper. During 4 tours of duty in the Iraq War, Kyle is credited with 160 confirmed kills during his military career.
Charles Mawhinney was a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War.
Carlos Hathcock, nicknamed "White Feather", was a United States Marine with a service record of 93 confirmed kills during the Vietnam War. His unconfirmed kills number between 300 and 400.
Carlos did an interview, its here on TH-cam. Broken into 3 parts.
You should look up the time he held off an enemy platoon while waiting for extract on a helicopter crash
Wasn't that Ed Eaton
@@jamesgodeaux5202 I think you’re right on that it’s been awhile since I’ve looked in to Hathcock’s career. I do remember he faced an enemy platoon, but I think Eaton was the helicopter crash sniper
@@charlesblood6061: Yep, it was Eaton.
Chuck Mawhinney actually had the most confirmed kills in Nam at 103. Mawhinney also had 216 probable kills. Hathcock had 93 confirmed and a further 300 plus probable.
Simo “the white death” is on probably on par with Carlos. Check that sniper out.
I was a Medic and during Vietnam our medical Evacuation was superb. From the battlefield there was an elaborate chain of medical facilities with immediate care of life threatening wounds and once stabilized, wounded went to more and mor sophisticated hospitals. An entire branch of the US Air Force was tasked with transport out of Vietnam to Japan or other pacific bases with appropriate medical care. Wounded were "triaged" with severe cases sometimes flown directly back to the US in cargo planes fitted with complete Intensive care equipment. Doctors and Nurses who gave them hospital quality care throughout the flights. Extremely severe cases were provided with their own I.C.U. nurse for the entire flight to constantly monitor them. Once in the US, the wounded were sent to military hospitals all over the US that specialized in different types of care. The sniper Hathcock was transported to Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio Texas which is the premier burn care center in the US. It is also where all Army Medical personnel were trained in those days.
The medical evacuation chain of care had a general officer that conducted a daily assessment of ALL medical evacuation flights and tracked those flights around the world. He was briefed on particular issues with emergency cases onboard flights and could divert them to medical facilities along the flight paths if patients could not survive until their destination without immediate surgeries. Status of all patients was constantly communicated and weather along the flights across the Pacific to avoid storms and there were contingencies for every possible situation.
If I am not mistaken, the survival rate for our wounded was in the high 95+% range overall. The critical factor in US Medical success was to get the wounded off the battlefield and to a nearby field hospital within 1 hour, called "the golden hour). The care of our wounded was a huge undertaking with a constant stream of airlift around the world for the entire war and we perfected extremely good survival of our wounded.
Great video on Hathcock. I would not want to go thru sniper training. Having to lay in holes and hiding waiting for the target. A great book about Vietnam is "The 13th Valley" by John M Del Vecchio. It's a novel but is said to be really accurate. It spends much of the time in the jungle following an old vet (Egan) and a new guy (Cherry). You feel like you are there.
$30,000 from 1965 would be equivalent to somewhere between $217,804 and $263,641 in today's money (2024)
Carlos Hathcock (USA): Over 90 confirmed kills (many unconfirmed) - Vietnam.
Simo Häyhä (Finland): Over 500 kills - Nicknamed "The White Death," he holds the record for documented sniper kills during the Winter War (1939-1940).
Vasily Zaytsev (Soviet Union): 428+ kills - Famous for his role in the Battle of Stalingrad (WWII).
and Häyhä didnt use any scope..
a service record of 93 confirmed kills. so that is not accurate.
Häyhä estimated in his private war memoir that he shot around 500 Soviet soldiers. Most of his kills were not Confirmed
Not sure if you had it backward or just wrong but these are facts!
@@MKitchen75 he was an incredible marksman, hunter and person, imo. Truly a hero. He didn't let anything stop him and his actions saved Finland, mho.
thats why he is still a hero here and has my respect too.. i am a corporan at at army engineering.. and if war comes I will go asap@@jacquelinejohnson9447
The White Death did those in 90 days, according to his squad records, averaging 10+ per day, with records in the 30's. The man didn't hunt people, he hunted platoons.
Dark docs is one of my favorite channels. He has one on the deadliest US/UK task force 141 in Iraq. You gotta watch it. Pretty badass
All the "Dark" channels are amazing, but I swear every video has one ridiculously bad error in them. After years of watching them, I just listen to the greatness and wait for the "WTF did you just say?" moment. 😆
I would recommend reading his biography. The 300-400 might be slightly exaggerated but not by much. That video didn't touch on his crazier stuff like slow crawling behind enemy lines for 3 days to get to a spot to shoot an enemy General. In my opinion given the equipment he had and the time frame I would list him easily in the top 3 snipers of all time.
He wanted them to know ..... that's why he left the White Feather in his cover.
Just going to say that the Winchester Model 70 is a classic. I own a scout model 30-06, and it kicks like a mule. But it’s was so accurate out of the box. Never needed anything done to it.
@3:45, Carlos Hathcock used a Browning M2 .50 BMG heavy machine gun to make his (then) record sniper kill of 2,500 yards. He wouldn't have attempted such a shot with his Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 Springfield. The only way to shoot that far with a standard rifle cartridge would be with indirect fire. With direct fire, bullet drop at that range would be measured in hundreds of inches.
Carlos Hathcock was credited with 93 confirmed kills. There are six other American snipers credited with a greater number of confirmed kills. The late Chris Kyle is #1 with 160 confirmed kills.
So far, the sniper with the most confirmed kills in history is Simo Häyhä (aka White Death) of Finland. His tally was 505 with his rifle; he had several hundred more kills with a submachine gun. This all took place during a 100 day span during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Yeah Nicholas Irving a US Army Ranger had 66 confirmed kills in a 3-4 month period as well.
the most impressive thing is that he used a ma deuce to snipe someone....
@@Montweezy Nicholas Irving is Full of SH-t. he has a lot of Military guys Angry he has made some real stupid claims Example a .50 Cal will not remove a limb just by going past the target and not directly hitting the target that's all lies and fan boy Crap. HE was a Great sniper but unfortunately his lack of reality after service is what he is forcing people to remember him for and a lot of his Stories are Lacking facts.
while all of that is true...what your not taking into account is there's also an " unconfirmed " kills list...and Gunny Hathcocks is 300 + no other American sniper even gets to 100 unconfirmed...(at least at the last time of my looking at the list a few years ago)
White Death Was Just Different dude took a shot to the face!
He grew up in the great depression when bullets were expensive missing was expensive and you wouldn’t eat shooting rabbits with a 22 bolt action rifle he was deadly accurate without even having to aim which you’d have to be to get a rabbit by the time you got it up to your shoulder and lined up the rabbit was gone when he shot the sniper through the scope. He was actually in the prone position, crawling through the jungle the glimmer caught his side peripheral, and he just quickly swung the rifle around and away from his body and fired.
Hathcock was probably the most famous sniper from Vietnam but he was 3rd as far as confirmed kills in that conflict. Chris Kyle is credited with the most confirmed kills in US sniper history.
Chuck Mawhinney also outscored Gunny Hathcock.
Simo is the GOAT.
@@uurkismesimo wasn’t American
@@heathfitzgerald363 no shit.
He was full of heart!
Your right i myself was taught at the age of 5 years old and in return taught my children at 5 also I have been shooting for 55 years now my grandchildren are also in training ever since they turned 5 keeping the tradition going for generations to come
Carlos was made of different stuff. He was a good ole country boy who pioneered a lot of the sniper programs taught today. And he had no fear.
I've owned a few of those Mosin-Nagant 91-30 rifles, and none were super accurate. Maybe because they were old surplus rifles that you could pick up in the 90s for $49.95 every day of the week. My Springfield M1A National Match in .308 is a whole other story. What an amazing person.
Pre WW-2 made 91/30s (ie 1920-1930s) were half-way decently made. If you smoothed out the trigger sear and spot on the firing pin release where it interfaced you could smoothen up the action. WWII era 91/30’s looked like they were machined by a drunk Russian 12 year old.
Marine Sniper : 93 confirmed kills is the book. As others have said you have to look into the elephant valley mission. On one ever talks about what I think was the most amazing thing he did was to use a Ma Due fitted with a scope to snipe. that was the weapon Carlos was using when he set the distance record, not his rifle.
Dark docs is an awesome channel that has some crazy historical videos
Got say I had the privilege to meet Carlos in 1990 or 1991 at Naval Weapons station Virginia at our Marine Corps Ball. Had a picture with him which i I have lost. But it was a Honor to meet a legend. It was sad to see how his injuries and illness effected him. I true marine legend. Semper Fi Mr. Hathcock.
The book is called Marine Sniper. We used to talk about it when i served in the 90s
I read a book about him years ago. When it came to his shot that killed the Cobra. He said the only way he could have done that was the other sniper had him in the cross hairs and he just pulled the trigger first.
He was treated at a field hospital in Nam
In Japan, the hospital is top tier
He was moved to Brooks for two reasons
1st to clear beds for new severe injuries
2nd Brooks, Ft. Sam Houston is the top tier for burns
A quick check says that $30,000 in 1970 is equal to $244,000 in 2024.
They forgot a lot of good details like how he turned a browning machine gun into a sniper rifle and how he won several long range shooting competitions after he discharged
Hey bud, do an episode on your full kit in the royal marines. I'm interested to know what you guys do differently across the pond, and what personal items you found were good to bring along.
the book is called marine sniper its very good i picked up a copy back in 92 from orlando airport once i started to read it i couldnt put it down
I grew up in Texas hunting everything from birds to deer and I rarely missed.
Carlos is a marine legend, many look up to him.
FYI - $30,000 back then is equivalent to approx. $280,000 today.
Widely considered to be the most deadly sniper of all time is Simo Hayha in the Finnish Winter War. He only used iron sights and became such a high value target to the Russians that they would send out decoy groups for him to shoot at and then bombard the general area the shots came from with artillery.
They left out the biggest story as mentioned down in other comments about the mission to take out an army General. I can't believe this story was not included.
His book was one of my favorites as a kid. I was obsessed with vietnam history back then. I think Simo has him beat as the GOAT though.
I met Gunny Hatchcock (and Gunner Henderson) at my Marine Corps League in NY in the late 80's. Being in a USMC Reserve Scout/Sniper (STA) platoon at the time, it was awestruck. He signed his book, "93 Confirmed Kills" and a few of us talked (listened) the night away (he only drank ginger ale). He was in NY for a shark fishing trip we had planned for him. 93 "confirmed" kills, but untold amount of actual kills. Marine Chuck Mawhinney actually had 103 confirmed kills in Vietnam. In Army doctrine at the time, 'snipers' were often used more like a Designated Marksman, operating closer to the front line and had more targets/kills. Marine snipers often worked alone (2-man teams) and called in artillery, only shooting when appropriate.
There's a great YT video of SeAL sniper Chris Kyle on Conan O'Brian. th-cam.com/video/IiVDtNjORbY/w-d-xo.html (2:25 mark) When asked about his 160 confirmed kills and being the best US sniper of all-time, he said Carlos Hatchcock was, citing the Gunny Hathcock didn't have nearly the targets of opportunity in Vietnam that he did in Iraq. THESE people should be our millionaires, before entertainers get their money. /rant
I tend to believe Hathcock when he quotes 300-400. No one would know better than him. There was a sniper from Finland who was better in WWII I believe. Simo Hayha with over 500 kills. He was nicknamed White Death by his enemies. My brother was a sniper in the 82nd Airborne. He doesn’t talk much about it.
I’m watching this while hunting turkeys here in Missouri. Hunting for my own food is something I grew up doing. I’m a Marine as well. Not a white feather but deadly enough.
The 2000 yard shot was not his Winchester rifle it was made with a browning m2 50 cal machine gun
That’s why he did it, the feather. It was his way of wagging his finger at the enemy. Like most of us Southerners Carlos grew up hunting and fishing, learning to stalk game and move silently in the woods. Apache was known for skinning her victims alive within hearing and view of G.I.’s. Hathcock said he really enjoyed killing her.
In terms of confirmed kills Sgt Hathcock's 93 is second in Corps history. Chuck Mawhinney, who passed in February of this year, had 103 confirmed. They were both passed by Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's 160. In this case however the confirmed number does not tell the entire story. Sgt Hathcock had such a total skill set (marksmanship, tracking, land navigation, stealth, concealment) to do what he did, when he did it, that it is hard to comprehend. Chris Kyle acknowledged that while his total is greater Hathcock was in his opinion a superior sniper. The 2,500 yard shot was not made with a 30-06 Winchester rifle. That is more than double its range. That shot was made using an M2 Browning 50 caliber machine gun.
l met him in 94. "Calm, Normal" man. Talked about the Model 700 and Model 70. ( l was in the gun business then.) ( Not albout the war )
Simo Häyhä is often considered the deadliest sniper in history, with 505 confirmed kills during the 105-day Winter War. Thats more 4 KIA per day
-Chris Kyle I believe is still known as the deadliest sniper in US history... (165 confirmed kills and 95 unconfirmed)
-Also, you should check out Nicholas Irving, a special operations sniper in the Army Ranger know as "The Reaper" (33 confirmed kills in less than 4 months. His rifle was named "Dirty Diana". Would have probably had triple digit kills if others could be confirmed)
Hey Marine
Read "Marine Sniper:93 Confirmed Kills." Hathcock crawled through waist high grass to eliminate a NV General. Took a couple of days. Then he had to crawl back. This guy was inhuman.
You do some good stuff
Go Navy
$30,000 in 1968 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $269,251.72 today
Author Stephen Hunter based his character, Bob Lee Swagger, on Carlos Hathcock.
The book " Time To Hunt" is loosely based on the story in the above video.
It's good readin' !
You need to see the actual Carlos Hathcock interviews, if you really want to see and understand what he thought. He seemed like someone who understood exactly why he was there and he also seemed to be quite ok with what he had done.
You should read One shot one kill, and 93 confirmed kills. They give a lot more details.
93 confirmed kills. Also, they did make a movie about him.
my first job was at 8. We lived adjacent to a cattle ranch. The rancher paid me $1 for each varmint I shot on his land. Coyotes, prairie dogs and other things. Used a .22 rifle.
There's a movie called sniper, with Tom Beringer. Loosely follows this
yeah, they should make a movie, you did
On TH-cam, there is a old two part interview with the original Carlos Hathcock.
in 1965 a new corvette was $2400 and an average house in 1969 was $10000
He had 93 “confirmed” kills. But those numbers are much lower than what his units accounted for.
Check out Chuck Mawinny. Hathcock was there for 8 years. Chuck was there less than a year. I've got #32 of 103 rifles. He was over there for less than a year 103 confirmed and 265 probables. M40 is a remarkable rifle.
Learning to hunt as a child in the US is just a common as going to school it's really a National Heritage
There is a live interview with Mr Hathcock, worth watching.
Its approx 320k now. Also, if a tree saved my life by tripping me, id plant a whole orchard of whatever tree it was when i got home. Or maybe a kids book, the Tripping Tree.
Carlos Hathcock got 93 confirmed kills. Hundreds unconfirmed.
The book is called the Marine sniper 93 confirmer kills and they didn't even tell the best story about how him and his spotter held down an entire company for 6 days in elephant valley and the time he took down an NBA general by worm crawling across 1,000+ yards of open ground over 3 days you really need to read the book
Hello, no it doesn't mean more about his wife, Hathcock was keeping his "brothers in arms" from being wounded/killed! That's the mentality and job of a good sniper!!! Just say'n...🧐 If ya don't have that ya shouldn't be in that position!!! Be safe and take care, "God Bless", sincerely, Randy. 😇🙏👊
P.S.: Ya need to check out the personal interview by either a reporter or 20/20 or 60 Minutes...
Yes. I commented also about Hathcock's interview. It was a great watch.
if you havent watched carlos hathcocks INTERVIEWS they are LEGENDARY. his EYES ARE SCARYY
I taught my son to shoot at a young age. He shot 40/40 for army qualification twice already. 😢😀
Generally the most successful sniper in the world was Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper who achieved over 500 kills in less than 100 days service in the Winter War, before he was wounded by a Russian tank round. His weapon of choice was a Finnish Mosin Nagant rifle, using only iron sights as the cold weather often fogged up optic glass.
I believe a Canadian currently holds the record for the longest shot
A true legendary American
One of my favorite Hathcock missions, which the video didn't revisit-was hathcock belly crawl into the middle of a vietcong camp at night to "eliminate" a General and somehow, in the ensuing caos manage to get away. What a legend!
Yes, what crawling 2 or 3 days in a open field literally in the enemies backyard, patrols nearly stepping on him repeatedly, gets his shot and bounces because the enemy instinctively ran to the wood line because who is crazy enough to slink across a open field 😂
Check out the winter soldier. He’s a Finnish sniper in WW2 and has an interesting story.
One of the most deadly Snipers in History wasLyudmila Pavlichenko is considered the most successful female sniper in history, with 309 recorded kills during World War II. She was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during the sieges of Odessa and Sevastopol, and was known as "Lady Death" by her enemies. Pavlichenko was born in 1916 in Belaya Tserkov, Ukraine, and died in Moscow in 1974. She was the only female sniper in the Red Army to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union award while still alive.

The National WWII Museum
“Lady Death” of the Red Army: Lyudmila Pavlichenko | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans
Mar 22, 2021

en.wikipedia.org
Lyudmila Pavlichenko - Wikipedia
Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with killing 309 enemy combatants. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odessa and the siege of Sevastopol, during the early stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front. Her score of 309 kills likely ...

National Park Service
"Lady Death" and The First Lady - National Park Service
Feb 23, 2022 - Lyudmila Pavlichenko passed away in 1974. She was one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army and one of 500 who survived. She was also the only one of these women who received the Hero of the Soviet Union award, the highest award in the Soviet military, while she was still alive.

amazon.com.au
Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin's Sniper : Pavlichenko, Lyudmila
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was one of the top scoring snipers of World War II with 309 recorded kills. She died on October 10th 1974.

simple.wikipedia.org
Lyudmila Pavlichenko - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ...
Lyudimila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko (12 July 1916 - 10 October 1974 was a Soviet sniper. She shot German soldiers in World War 2. She was one of the top military snipers of all time, and is credited with 309 kills. She was the most successful female sniper in history.
Not anymore, a Canadian sniper now has the longest kill of 3500 meters
I’m surprised they didn’t go into him making the M2 into a sniper rifle
If you want to cross over your goal, NFL (brutal hits) or some OverSimplified videos could do the trick.
Vietnam was brutal both physically and mentally. Most don't know that it was never declared as a war, it was a "Police Action" so many things were never used so that it might have actually been won. Many of us who were there referred to it as the "South East Asian War Games" and even now, most of us suffer the aftereffects of having been participants.
They missed a lot of information about gunny hathcock. Anyone interested in Learning more should watch the vid of the interview of Carlos hathcock
True marine, right there. Not saying that you're not one, Luke lol.
The book is One shot one kill. It’s a good read.
You reacted to Simo Hayha, known as the White Death. IMO he was the best sniper of all time.
$30,000 in 1960 would convert to about $316,500 in 2024. Basically 1 US Dollar from 1960 equates to 10.55 US dollars in 2024
Luv ur vids....what an amazing story!
Check out the book one shot, one kill if you get the chance. Collection of sniper stories including several about Hathcock
Gunny Hathcock was an amazing man. We loved him and love him still.
He would go through anything you threw at him for his country. He'd go through infinitely more hell for his Marine brothers and sisters.
YES, Gunny got between 300 and 400 enemies. He and his spotter took out an entire NVA Company in one engagement.
He tried to disassociate the enemy by calling them "Hamburgers" and "Hot Dogs".
Every single engagement pained him.