Horror, Sleaze and Trash.

Born on the 20th of May, 1942, Carlos Hathcock grew up in rural Arkansas. After his parents separated, he was raised by his grandmother. When he got older, Hathcock took up hunting in a bid to help feed his family. From a young boy, Hathcock dreamt of joining the Marines and when he turned 17, he enlisted. In his spare time, he continued shooting and entered a number of shooting championships and won many awards. Hathcock was shipped out to Vietnam in 1966. He was initially deployed as a military policeman but when his talent in shooting was discovered, he was asked if he wanted to be a sniper.

During his time as a Marine sniper in Vietnam, his confirmed kill total against the North Vietnam Army and Vietnam-Cong was 93. He stated that his estimated kill number was over 300. During his time in Vietnam, he had a bounty of $30,000 on his head. Today, that would be around $233,700. To his enemies, he became known as “White Feather” due to the fact he always wore a white feather in his bush hat. When the other Marines learned this, many placed white feathers in their caps to deceive counter snipers in a bid to protect Hathcock; his death would have been a blow to their safety. His most infamous kill was when he shot a bullet into an enemy sniper’s own rifle scope, killing him instantly.

Hathcock’s sniper career came to an end in September of 1969. He was travelling on a train when it was struck by an anti-tank mine. Flames quickly engulfed the train and Hathcock raced against time to successfully rescue seven of his fellow Marines. This didn’t come without injury, however. Hathcock was burned almost beyond recognition as he ran back through the flames several times to ensure that no Marine was left behind. When asked about his reputation as a sniper, he said: “He’ll, anybody would be crazy to like to go out and kill folks… I never did enjoy killing anybody. It’s my job. If I don’t get those bastards, then they’re going to kill a lot of these kids. That’s the way I look at it.” 

Hathcock died in 1999 after battling multiple sclerosis.