The Story of White Feather Vietnam, the First War America Lost
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• Dov Levy Master Sniper The Story of White Feather Vietnam, the first war America lost. It split the country apart like nothing had in the 100 years since the Civil War. Students across the US protested soldiers' sacrifice in the jungles of a distant country that held no strategic significance for the United States. As the losses mounted with no end in sight and no plan for victory, war protests grew. Nevertheless, amid all the blood and gore, certain people stood out for their bravery, loyalty and outstanding skill. Marine sniper Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Norman Hathcock II was one of them. His exploits became legendary within the Marine Corps. Although his records have since been beaten, he retains his iconic status as the understated country boy whose uncanny talent made him stand out. 86 | ZMAN • September 2014 ZMAN • Elul 5774 | 87 he young Marine sat perched in his Ta lonely hill overlooking a wide valley of the handlebars was a sack filled with camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego and in Vietnam.sniper’s He nest stared on thethrough southern the scopefinger onof hundreds of rounds of ammunition. his instructors soon noticed that he excelled Obviously, this was not a transport at marksmanship. Using the M1 Garand, a meant to supply the local US Marine base. heavy semi-automatic rifle that became the his modified M2 Browning machine gun, weaponsIt was headed were forto bethe distributed Viet Cong thatguerrillas night standard-issue in the US Army before World scanning the area for signs of the enemy. who infested the surrounding woods. The War II, Hathcock would hit the 18-inch bull’s- Crouched beside him was his spotter, day. From the boy’s appearance and the way eye from 500 yards time and time again. gazingIn thethrough distance his thebinoculars sniper couldfor signs make of and turned against the US troops by the next Next he was sent to Hawaii where he outunfriendly a speck forces. wobbling its way up the road. He trained under Lieutenant Edward James peered through his telescopic sight and as hehis reachedsweaty thiskhaki neighborhood. shirt clung to his back, he Land, who headed the Hawaii Marines Rifle had probably been peddling for hours until Team. While there Hathcock won the Pacific Division rifle championship and went on to it grew closer, he could make out the form The American sniper did not like his job, Carlos Hathcock, far left, is presented the Wimbledon Cup in 1965. designatedwin numerous a Marine awards Corps for marksmanship. Distinguished of a boy, perhaps 12 years old, peddling on hisbut ifgrip he leton thisthe shipmentmachine gun’spass, ithandles would costand By 1965 he amassed enough points to be his bicycle. A few moments passed and the the lives of fellow servicemen. He tightened sniper’s face grew longer. Slung over each trigger. Sniper. His most prestigious accomplishment handlebar were two Soviet-made AK-47 waited. At 2,000 feet he finally squeezed the in the backwoods of Geyer Springs, near contestantswas the 1,000-yard and was national awarded high-power the prized rifle rifles, with several more tied sideways Little Rock. championship. He out-shot the other 3,000 beneath the seat. Hanging from the front Despite the extreme distance, the bullet Hathcock was introduced to his first handlebars.hit its target—not The sniper the boy, hoped but thisthe bicyclewould rifle at age three. His father returned from trophy, the Wimbledon Cup. frame, causing the rider to fly over the the European theater of World War II Marines could intercept the shipment and asand a trophy.presented Young him Carlos with woulda nonfunctioning play in the thefrighten incident the would boy tobe over.run away. Then the World War I Mauser that he brought back soldiers. woods, pretending he was tracking Japanese However, the rider quickly jumped up and grabbed one of the assault rifles. With Later, Hathcock’s father gave him a loadedswift, precise magazine motions into the that weapon. suggested He was plenty no .22 caliber single-shot rifle. The boy soon of experience with weapons, he jammed a learnedA writer to oncehunt askedsmall Hathcock game to who feed taught the family, which was destitute. longer just aiding the enemy, but the enemy American soldiers man a machine gun from a concealed dead.itself. The American sniper had no choice. him to shoot. “I did,” he replied. “There was position during Operation Junction City in Vietnam, March 1967. He fired a second time. The boy-soldier was nobody to teach me, so I had to learn myself.” Captured Viet Cong guerillas. sit inBy the 10, woods Hathcock and waswait huntinga spell. I’d to justfeed wait his AndWar his forcedskill as people a master into terriblemarksman choices, and family. He later recalled, “As a young’n, I’d go but his job was to protect his fellow Marines. afor rabbit the rabbits would and be comingsquirrels by ‘cause that very sooner log. or I thestalker Viet wouldCong. save untold numbers of his later a squirrel would be in that very tree or fellow Americans from death at the hands of schooljust knew and it. Don’ttook knowa job why, with just a did.”concrete Born to Hunt At 15, Hathcock dropped out of high Carlos Norman Hathcock II was born on construction firm. But his childhood dream wasHe something spent two else years entirely. in construction.One day, he May 20, 1942, in North Little Rock, Arkan- hoped, he would become a Marine. Small village bursting into flame under a spread Viet Cong soldiers carry an injured sas, where his father was a railroad worker. and became eligible to enlist in the Marine of phosphorus explosives dropped during an American POW to a prisoner swap in 1972. young.He was Carlos an only was child raised and by his his parents, grandmother Carlos On May 20, 1959, the day he turned 17 American air strike against Viet Cong positions. and Agnes Hathcock, separated when he was Corps, he signed up. He was sent to boot 88 | ZMAN • September 2014 ZMAN • Elul 5774 | 89.