Posted on Oct 25, 2015
What is the most extraordinary thing you have ever done to accomplish a military mission?
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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.
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Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 24
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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?
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?
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CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
CPO Andy Carrillo, MS - May he rest in peace and be honored in Corps history.
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CPO Andy Carrillo, MS
CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025 - My step-son graduates from MCRD San Diego on 22JAN16 so I'll check for the wall then and take photos. I read where Hathcock did graduate from recruit training there, too.
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CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
CPO Andy Carrillo, MS Thank you. If you can find a Staff Sergeant, show your ID card and ask, they will probably seat you in the folding chairs in front of the reviewing stand w/ the DI familys. (That is where I sat last time). You may have to be stubborn, but they will take care of you!
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1stSgt (Join to see)
CPO Andy Carrillo, MS , Get there early and sit right in front of your Stepsons platoon. The DI's familys sit in the middle of the show and from thier if your is not either Trail of Lead or Lead of Trail platoon you will be to far away to see him and have to wade thru the other platoons to get to him. You can message me for more insight on Recruit Graduations. (2 tours at MCRD SD. Retired from MCRD as the 1st Sgt of Receiving Barracks ((Yellow Foot Prints, yes, my career started and ended at the same point, literally.)) ).
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All due respect to Hathcock, but the name Marine Snipers tend to revere more is Mawhinney.
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Capt Richard I P.
He shot a lot of the enemy. Kept quiet about it for years. High hustle low ego.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Mawhinney
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Mawhinney
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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.
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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.
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Capt Walter Miller
Yeah. He and the duty driver picked us up at the Rota NAS terminal, June 2, 1974. We got to the ship and went into his little office.
He said to me, "What is deadly force?"
I knew the school answer -- "Deadly force is the force which a person knows, or should reasonably know, creates a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm."
And he says, "What the fuck is that? Deadly force is the loading and firing of weapons."
And I said, "Alright, Gunny. Sure."
Attached pic shows Gunny Hathcock in the back with us getting ready for an honor guard on USS Simon Lake.
He said to me, "What is deadly force?"
I knew the school answer -- "Deadly force is the force which a person knows, or should reasonably know, creates a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm."
And he says, "What the fuck is that? Deadly force is the loading and firing of weapons."
And I said, "Alright, Gunny. Sure."
Attached pic shows Gunny Hathcock in the back with us getting ready for an honor guard on USS Simon Lake.
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Capt Walter Miller
This pic might have been taken the same day. I am the skinny lance corporal in the middle.
My mother had this picture for 30 years. I had forgotten all about it.
My mother had this picture for 30 years. I had forgotten all about it.
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Capt Walter Miller
My other most indelible memory of Gunny Hathcock (who we called 'Gunny' because he was the detachment gunnery sergeant - but he was at that time a staff sergeant) was when he was leaving the ship to come back to the States, I was a sentry on a missile move. He came down the main deck and gave me a big hand shake and a big smile and I thought, "I may be getting the hang of this Marine shit after all."
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Capt Walter Miller
One other thing -- we had this guy in the detachment who would say (like six times a day), "Hey, Gunny..." to which Gunny Hathcock would invariably reply -- "Hay is for horses, Mester."
Walt
Walt
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