Carlos Hathcock: The Forgotten History of the Iconic Marine Sniper Known as White Feather

Carlos Hathcock is not a name that is widely known, even in military circles, but he is one of the most successful and prolific snipers in American military history. Hathcock boasted 93 confirmed kills during his time in the United States Marine Corps. With his longest official kill clocking in at 2,500 yards and longest unofficial kill being estimated at 2,800 yards, he is something of a legend. The M21 variant Springfield Armory M25 White Feather incorporated the nickname bestowed upon him by the North Vietnamese Army. They called him “White Feather,” because of a white feather that he kept in the band of his hat.

The Early Life of Carlos Hathcock II

Carlos Norman Hathcock II was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1942, and grew up in the town of Wynne, which is about an hour and a half away. He lived with his grandmother during the first 12 years of his life, as his parents were separated. It was during a trip to visit family in Mississippi that Hathcock first became interested in guns and hunting. Part of this was simply a necessity; his family was very poor and he needed to help feed them by bagging game in the forest. Hathcock greatly enjoyed his time in the woods, often pretending that he was an American soldier hunting down the Japanese during World War II using his father’s Mauser from the war. Fulfilling his lifelong dream to serve in the Marine Corps, Hathcock enlisted in 1959, at the age of 17. He married his wife, Jo (nee Broughton) Winstead, on the Marine Corps’ birthday, November 10, 1962.

Carlos Hathcock II Arrives in Vietnam

It wasn't until 1966 that Hathcock deployed to Vietnam. Prior to deployment, he earned a name for himself as a top marksman by winning prestigious competitions, such as the Wimbledon Cup. Although Hathcock began his career in the Military Police Corps, Captain Edward James Land urged him to move into the sniper’s position to ensure that every platoon had their own sniper. It’s worth taking a minute to consider what a “confirmed kill” is. For snipers, kills had to be confirmed by an independent source other than the sniper and his spotter. It was very rare for snipers to have an independent third party present, so the “confirmed kill” number is necessarily far lower than the number of enemy soldiers actually killed by a sniper. Hathcock personally estimated killing somewhere between 300 and 400 Vietnamese communists. So incensed were the Vietnamese communists by Hathcock, that they put a bounty on his head – to the tune of $30,000, which is worth about a quarter million dollars in today’s money. It was also wildly above the bounties typically offered for snipers, which ranged from a princely $8 all the way up to $2,000. Hathcock’s bounty held the record for the highest of all time, and he capably disposed of every North Vietnamese agent sent out to collect the bounty. During this period, soldiers in the region began wearing Hathcock’s iconic white feather in their hats to confuse the enemy.

Hathcock’s Greatest Hits

Perhaps Hathcock’s greatest act of marksmanship was shooting a North Vietnamese sniper through his own scope. The counter-sniper was killed by the shot, which entered through his eye. The shot was so clean that it didn’t touch the sides of the scope. The sniper was known as “The Cobra” and has killed many American soldiers on his mission to neutralize Hathcock.

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