What is the most extraordinary thing you have ever done to accomplish a military mission?

2015-10-25T23:22:22-04:00

Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock is a legend of Marine Corps history. One of the most lethal snipers in history, he even repeatedly succeeded in killing snipers sent to hunt him. In one of his last missions on a tour in Vietnam, he crawled nearly two miles to kill a Vietnamese general and escape. When the mission came down, he didn’t have all the details but he knew tough missions at the end of a tour were a recipe for disaster. Rather than send one of his [short timer] men, he volunteered for the mission himself.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Oct 25 at 2015 11:31 PM

2015-10-25T23:31:42-04:00

CPO Andy Carrillo, MS thanks for sharing, I had no clue. Awesome story!

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Oct 25 at 2015 11:31 PM

2015-10-25T23:31:44-04:00

Great example.

Response by Cpl Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 25 at 2015 11:49 PM

2015-10-25T23:49:21-04:00

Gunny Hathcock's son, Carlos Hathcock III, also went into the Marine Corps. I never met him but know several Marines that knew him. The last I had heard of him was that he was on a rifle team at Cherry Point.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2015 12:13 AM

2015-10-26T00:13:23-04:00

I an in awe of the accomplishments made by Gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock. A Marine legend indeed!

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Oct 26 at 2015 12:38 AM

2015-10-26T00:38:52-04:00

All due respect to Hathcock, but the name Marine Snipers tend to revere more is Mawhinney.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Oct 26 at 2015 12:38 AM

2015-10-26T00:38:53-04:00

CPO Andy Carrillo, MS Do you have a recent location on GySgt Hathcock?

A few years ago, I met a Marine in Templeton, CA, who was a successful sniper, said his name was on a ?'wall' @ MCRD San Diego and ret'd as a Major? COPY?

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2015 9:40 AM

2015-10-26T09:40:13-04:00

actually missing my wife's complaints ...

Response by SGT William Howell made Oct 26 at 2015 11:30 AM

2015-10-26T11:30:51-04:00

There is so much more to that guy than just that. He was a superhero. If you have not read the book White Feather you need to. Amazing book.

On September 16, 1969, Hathcock's career as a sniper came to a sudden end along Route 1, north of LZ Baldy, when an AMTRAC he was riding on, an LVT-5, struck an anti-tank mine. Hathcock pulled seven Marines from the flame-engulfed vehicle, suffering severe burns (some were third-degree) to his face, trunk, arms and legs, before jumping to safety. While recovering, Hathcock received the Purple Heart. Nearly 30 years later, he received a Silver Star for this action.[10][29][30] All eight injured Marines were evacuated by helicopter to hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16), then to a Naval Hospital in Tokyo, and ultimately to the burn center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

After returning to active duty, Hathcock helped establish the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School, at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia. Due to his extreme injuries suffered in Vietnam, he was in nearly constant pain, but he continued to dedicate himself to teaching snipers. In 1975, Hathcock's health began to deteriorate, and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He stayed in the Marine Corps, but his health continued to decline. And, just 55 days short of the 20 years that would have made him eligible for regular retirement pay, he received a permanent disability separation.

Response by SGT Charles Tittl made Oct 26 at 2015 1:20 PM

2015-10-26T13:20:07-04:00

I had the privilege of shaking this man's hand at the National matches at camp Perry, Ohio back in the early 90's

Response by LTC Ed Ross made Oct 26 at 2015 3:45 PM

2015-10-26T15:45:38-04:00

Adjusted 3,000 rounds of artillery fire from 8 artillery batteries in support of an infantry company caught in an ambush. Operation Coronado V, Mobile Riverine Force September 1967 Vietnam.

Response by SSgt Dan Montague made Oct 26 at 2015 7:28 PM

2015-10-26T19:28:35-04:00

His book was amazing. What he did as a sniper was incredible. Especially the kill he made using an M2 with a scope he made for it. The time is past due for Hollywood to make a movie of his life. there will be no need to dramatize it either.

Response by SSgt Dan Montague made Oct 26 at 2015 7:39 PM

2015-10-26T19:39:07-04:00

I have to add a story to this. Right before I started on recruiting duty in 99, there was a Doc that kept coming in and calling our SNCOIC about some maps he had when he went on missions with Carlos Hatcock..Yes he called him Hatcock. Our SNCOIC was annoyed at this alleged "doc". He was a huge fan of Gysgt Hathcock. After a while the doc just dropped off the maps in our office with an address and phone number. Said he gave up trying to contact his old fried Hatcock. Months went by and one day our SNCOIC tried the number. When a women answered he asked for Gysgt Hathcock. To his surprise, the number was real. Unfortunately, Gysgt was ill at the time and couldn't talk. Carlos wife explained that the "doc" was a corpsman in his unit. Carlos didn't really remember him. The guy would not stop calling. She gave our SNCOIC their address to send the maps. In return Carlos sent the station an autographed photo. The famous one with his white feather.

Response by Sgt Baron Hyatt made Oct 26 at 2015 9:59 PM

2015-10-26T21:59:50-04:00

i met gunny hathcock in 1987 an amazing man god bless his soul he needs a movie

Response by Capt Walter Miller made Oct 26 at 2015 10:08 PM

2015-10-26T22:08:41-04:00

I worked for Gunny Hathcock for a year. He was really something.

Walt

Response by CPO Kenneth Wilkinson made Oct 27 at 2015 3:05 AM

2015-10-27T03:05:53-04:00

Kept my mouth shut.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 11:11 AM

2015-10-27T11:11:35-04:00

Punched my Platoon Sgt in the mouth.

Response by SGT Rick Ash made Oct 27 at 2015 2:39 PM

2015-10-27T14:39:13-04:00

In 1978 I was in S. Korea at Camp Howard "K16". I was a "tracker specialist" and was selected to take 2 modules to a Hawk Missile battery just north of the DMZ. I received specific instructions and directions via Teletype. In a jeep with one brake and one headlight me, my driver, wife and 4 year old son headed that way. "It WAS an unaccompanied tour but she had a passport & visa and I got permission to live off post". There WAS a gate when we got there, manned by N. Korean guards. We proceeded North of the DMZ and passed under several huge stone slabs over the dirt road on upright stones the size of Stonehenge. Those were wired with explosives that would hinder S. Korean troops attempting to go North. We were stopped by 2 more guards that just appeared in the road WITH rifles. They had the required paperwork. I didn't realize there were Hawk Batteries in N. Korea. We all let out a big sigh of relief when we got back South of the demilitarized zone. Mission Accomplished. Another Bronze star on my "Meritorious Service" ribbon.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2015 3:59 PM

2015-10-27T15:59:49-04:00

I enlisted!

Response by SPC Andrew Griffin made Oct 27 at 2015 6:56 PM

2015-10-27T18:56:02-04:00

Being the in the RIGHT PLACE! RIGHT TIME! AND RIGHT UNIFORM!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 29 at 2016 9:55 AM

2016-02-29T09:55:23-05:00

Spent two weeks in Basrah, with my supply clerk, injecting 5000 cases of expired atropine auto-injectors into the hesco to get rid of them because: medical wouldn't take them because they were "hazardous material". Haz-mat wouldn't take them because they were "medical supplies".

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 3 at 2016 2:20 PM

2016-03-03T14:20:14-05:00

Pulled together a band of IRR soldiers and a few cry babies and miscreants and actually accomplished the mission while being railroaded by my Brigade. Put up with a medic who thought they needed to be in charge of someone, officers who had been in the IRR for over 10 years and still thought they belong in the Infantry boys club, other meddling 1SG's who couldn't control their own people so they thought they would try to make my life miserable. Survived 6 EO complaints (nothing ever proven), 1 15-6 + potential GOMAR (again, nothing proven). Thank god for a great Captain ,E-7 and E-5 that helped straighten the ship.

Response by SGT Frank Oliver made Mar 3 at 2016 2:56 PM

2016-03-03T14:56:08-05:00

Broke into a SSG's tool box to fix a 2 1/2 to get it back to the Armory. the SSG said I did the right thing to get it home.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 11 at 2016 3:43 PM

2016-03-11T15:43:59-05:00

Can't beat Gunny Hathcock. My S&S Co was at Ft Drum for annual inspection by an Active CPT. We had a field bakery unit that was going to fail because they didn't have a scale to weigh the dough for bread. I was the Supply Sgt and they never told me they were short so I could order one. I asked the CPT to give me two hours before he wrote them up. I grabbed my supply clerk and the CO's jeep and drove to the commissary on Post. I asked the produce manager if I could Bororo a produce scale. I got the scale back to the bakery section and they passed. Mission accomplished and I received by name recognition for ingenuity from the CPT on hid final report.

Response by PO3 Bobby Quisenberry made Dec 7 at 2022 7:15 PM

2022-12-07T19:15:16-05:00

I got around a treaty in support of the Naval Special Boat Units and Marines stationed at Little Creek during the Persian Gulf War. I didn't exactly brake the treaty a couple of times technically, but you be the judge. Marines needed about a hundred M-16s in Bahrain, which it was forbidden to ship weapons there by treaty, so I had the gunner mates to remove all the firing pins and ship the M-16s without the firing pins along with the firing pins separately as gun parts. They just got reassembled there in Bahrain! Then again the Navy Special Boat Units had tied their boats up to the barge Hercules, the Naval Special Warfare barge, when a tempest came up and beat them to pieces. They had to be taken to Bahrain to be repaired. They needed some big deck guns sent to them to replace the ruined ones, but it was again against the treaty to ship weapons into Bahrain. I had the gunner mates pull the barrels off the guns and again shipped them separately as gun parts which was legal. Where there's a will there is a way! Hoo-Rah!