WEBVTT - White Feather: The Original American Sniper

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<v Speaker 1>And we continue with our American stories. No single soldier

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<v Speaker 1>on the battlefield is more revered or more reviled than

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<v Speaker 1>the sniper. They are seen as either cowardly assassins or

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<v Speaker 1>surgical soldiers. With a single bullet, snipers can change the

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<v Speaker 1>outcome of a battle or even a war. Long before

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Kyle penned American Sniper, which became Clint Eastwood's Oscar

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<v Speaker 1>nominated movie masterpiece, Carlos Hathcock was already a legend. Hathcock

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<v Speaker 1>was so efficient and fearless during the Vietnam War that

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<v Speaker 1>he wore a white feather on his gear, taunting the

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<v Speaker 1>Communists to come find him. Our next story comes to

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<v Speaker 1>us from Colin D. Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military

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<v Speaker 1>veterans and the founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History.

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<v Speaker 1>Their videos focus on military heroes, actions and events spanning

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<v Speaker 1>across the globe and are watched by hundreds of thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of people. Here's Colin Heaton with the story.

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<v Speaker 2>Carlos Norman Hathcock was born on May twentieth, nineteen forty two,

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<v Speaker 2>in Little Rock, Arkansas. Hathcock supported his extremely poor family

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<v Speaker 2>by shooting and hunting. At an early age, with a

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<v Speaker 2>twenty two caliber J. C. Higgins single shot rifle. He

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<v Speaker 2>later graduated to using a car ninety eight German Mauser

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<v Speaker 2>that his father had brought back from World War II.

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<v Speaker 2>Hathcock joined the Marines on May twentieth, nineteen fifty nine,

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<v Speaker 2>at the age of seventeen, and rapidly became a known quantity.

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<v Speaker 2>He had won the matches at Camp Perry in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty five and the Wimbledon Cup Shooting Championships in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty six. Hathcock deployed to South Vietnam as a military policeman,

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<v Speaker 2>but later became a sniper after Captain later Major Edward

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<v Speaker 2>James Land wanted papers in every infantry platoon. At that time,

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<v Speaker 2>there was no formal snipers school in the Marine Corps,

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<v Speaker 2>and snipers were designated according to a marine's marchsmanship record

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<v Speaker 2>and field expertise. Land knew right away that Hathcock was

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<v Speaker 2>a natural. Hathcock soon went to work protecting Marines, and

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<v Speaker 2>one enemy was a woman. The story of the woman

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<v Speaker 2>VC called the Apache has been questioned, but here is

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<v Speaker 2>how Carlos explained it.

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<v Speaker 3>I really don't like to talk about her to you.

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<v Speaker 3>True she was a I don't like these bad words.

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<v Speaker 3>She was a very a very bad woman, had her

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<v Speaker 3>own sniper platoon down there, and I don't think they

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<v Speaker 3>were allud to get all last snippers, myself, everybody, and

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<v Speaker 3>she had been torturing a lot of people prior to

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<v Speaker 3>us getting there, and that was a primary objective kind

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<v Speaker 3>of for me. And Uh, I was in her own backyard.

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<v Speaker 3>She was trumpling out her mind and I didn't like that.

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<v Speaker 3>And she skent that one kid that she'd captured. This

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<v Speaker 3>was a very very person.

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<v Speaker 4>Very person.

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<v Speaker 3>Saw her kind of saw the group coming in, about

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<v Speaker 3>five of.

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<v Speaker 4>'em, and UH.

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<v Speaker 3>Saw her squat down to tinkle, and I certained it

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<v Speaker 3>was her, and UH guy in front of her was

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<v Speaker 3>trying to get her to stop, cause they were running

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<v Speaker 3>eye twa towards us for where they had seen her

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<v Speaker 3>for he trying to get her stop. She didn't, but

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<v Speaker 3>I stopped her. I pulled one extra for good measure,

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<v Speaker 3>because I I was the best shot I ever made.

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<v Speaker 4>I think the best shot ever made.

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<v Speaker 2>The NBA and BC called Hathcock long Train, which means

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<v Speaker 2>white feather, because of the white feather he kept in

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<v Speaker 2>the band on his bush hat.

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<v Speaker 4>At that time of Vietnam.

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<v Speaker 3>All the troops was wearing garbage on the dog tags,

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<v Speaker 3>peace symbols. Right, we need to pee some of them

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<v Speaker 3>in all kinds of garbage, grenade pins, all kind of

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<v Speaker 3>mess and the hats and stuff. Well, I picked it up.

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<v Speaker 3>Why I picked it up, just because I was just going.

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<v Speaker 1>To the bed.

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<v Speaker 3>Guys see and the snipers don't do this. I'm not

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<v Speaker 3>supposed to do it. But I was kind of a

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<v Speaker 3>very belligerent individual, I guess as a sniper and kind

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<v Speaker 3>of like flump my authority.

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<v Speaker 4>I guess. Yes.

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<v Speaker 2>After platoon of Vietnamese snipers failed to kill him, many

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<v Speaker 2>Marines in the same area donned white feathers to deceive

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<v Speaker 2>the enemy and confuse them. Hocheimen placed a bounty of

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<v Speaker 2>thirty thousand dollars on Hathcock because he was so effective,

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<v Speaker 2>and through a mishap they learned his name. It was

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<v Speaker 2>believed that one of the local women working on the

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<v Speaker 2>base accessed hathcock service record book. In those days, sniper

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<v Speaker 2>kills were recorded in the SRB. Generally, rewards put on

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<v Speaker 2>US snipers ranged from eight dollars to two thousand dollars.

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<v Speaker 2>Hathcock held the record for the highest bounty ever placed

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<v Speaker 2>on a marine, and he killed every Vietnamese sniper who

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<v Speaker 2>came after him. In one of the most remarkable sniper

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<v Speaker 2>versus snipery duels in history, Hathcock and his spaughter John

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<v Speaker 2>Roland Burke were stalking the enemy sniper called the Cobra

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<v Speaker 2>in the jungle near.

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<v Speaker 1>Hill fifty five.

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<v Speaker 2>This was a fire base southwest of Denange where the

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<v Speaker 2>Cobra had already killed several Marines to lure Hathcock out

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<v Speaker 2>to kill him. The stalking lasted for time days.

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<v Speaker 3>Carlo said, listen, if away sniper was sent down there

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<v Speaker 3>to get me, and uh, which I rather didn't appreciate,

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<v Speaker 3>and he was doing a bad job on the hill

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<v Speaker 3>they called a gunnery sertain right outside my door by

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<v Speaker 3>hooch U, and uh I watched him die, and uh

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<v Speaker 3>I took a bow right then I was gonna get

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<v Speaker 3>him somewhere or another. And uh cause I left Vietnam

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<v Speaker 3>the first time with eighty six and firmed and the

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<v Speaker 3>whole gob of probables, and I figured I was a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit better than what they were, so just a smidge,

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<v Speaker 3>cause I was still alive. And uh I got John Burke,

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<v Speaker 3>who's my partner, and we went out as a teammader.

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<v Speaker 3>I trailed him, a very cagy, very smart individual, and

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<v Speaker 3>I figured he was close to me as good as

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<v Speaker 3>I was. But it ain't no way, ain't no how

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<v Speaker 3>did that go?

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<v Speaker 4>So?

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<v Speaker 3>And you got to think like that too, You got

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<v Speaker 3>to think like that. And I made a mistake. I

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<v Speaker 3>fell on a old rotted tree, and he made a

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<v Speaker 3>shot and hit no partner's canteen, and working up both

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<v Speaker 3>thought he was hit cause all the warmness running down

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<v Speaker 3>overs lads and stuff, and uh, I noticed the homeless canteens.

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<v Speaker 3>You ain't hurt, Yeah, you ain't hurt. Just to kill

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<v Speaker 3>the devilted canteen, that's all. And we mosed it around

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<v Speaker 3>and mingled around, and he started running. The bad guy

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<v Speaker 3>started running now, and we worked around to where I

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<v Speaker 3>was in his old spot. He was in my n

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<v Speaker 3>old spot, which was a bad thing for him, cause

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<v Speaker 3>he was facing the sun by that time. That was

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<v Speaker 3>afternoon by then, and uh the sun glanted off his

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<v Speaker 3>lands of the scope, I guess, and which I didn't

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<v Speaker 3>know at that time.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I saw the glint.

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<v Speaker 3>I shot at where the glint was, and it just

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<v Speaker 3>happened to me the right time and by books of things,

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<v Speaker 3>I was just the quickest on the trigger. Otherwise Andrey

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<v Speaker 3>kill me because I I shot right through his cup,

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<v Speaker 3>right straight through his cup, didn't touch sides, didn't touch

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<v Speaker 3>his size, and it didn't do his eyesight no good

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<v Speaker 3>in that side either.

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<v Speaker 2>Hathcock and Burke collected the dead sniper's rifle, as Hathcock

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<v Speaker 2>wanted to keep it as a trophy, but it was

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<v Speaker 2>later stolen from the armory after he checked it in.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're listening to the story of Carlos Hathcock, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's being told by Colin Heaton and Mike Droberg of

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<v Speaker 1>Forgotten History, and you're also hearing from Carlos Hathcock himself.

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<v Speaker 1>Born in Little Rock, he supported his family hunting and

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<v Speaker 1>obviously that marksmanship came in handy when at seventeen he

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<v Speaker 1>signed up for the Marines. There was a thirty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars bounty on his head by Ho Chi Minh himself.

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<v Speaker 1>That's how feared Hathcock was. When we come back, more

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<v Speaker 1>of this remarkable story a true American sniper, And believe me,

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<v Speaker 1>you want a good sniper on your team in deployment

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<v Speaker 1>for sure. More of this remarkable story here on our

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<v Speaker 1>American stories, and we continue with our American stories. Few

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<v Speaker 1>Vietnam era marines are more storied than legendary sniper Carlos Hathcock.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet his legend is not rooted in confirmed kills or

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<v Speaker 1>the longest shots taken, but we held both records in

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<v Speaker 1>his lifetime. It was his talents for tracking and hunting

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<v Speaker 1>his greatest weapons. He taught himself to shoot as a boy,

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<v Speaker 1>just like Alvin York and Audie Murphy before him. He

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<v Speaker 1>dreamed of being a US Marine his whole life and enlisted,

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<v Speaker 1>as I said before, at the age of seventeen. Hathcock

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<v Speaker 1>was a world class sharpshooter, by then, winning the Wimbledon

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<v Speaker 1>Cup shooting championship in nineteen sixty five, the year before

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<v Speaker 1>he would deploy to Vietnam and change the face of

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<v Speaker 1>American warfare forever. I like shooting and I love hunting,

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<v Speaker 1>but I never did enjoy killing anybody. It's my job,

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<v Speaker 1>he said famously. Let's continue with the story here again

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<v Speaker 1>is Colin Heaton.

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<v Speaker 2>Hathcock was offered a top secret mission, which he accepted,

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<v Speaker 2>knowing nothing about it until he was briefed after acceptance.

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<v Speaker 2>The mission was to kill a North Vietnamese general far

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<v Speaker 2>behind the enemy lines, and he would be alone this time.

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<v Speaker 2>Following his insertion several miles he entered the enemy controlled area.

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<v Speaker 2>It took him four days and three nights without sleep

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<v Speaker 2>as he crawled inch by inch over one thousand, five

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<v Speaker 2>hundred yards of an open field, after already covering two

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<v Speaker 2>miles just to get to that point. Hathcock was wearing

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<v Speaker 2>a hastily assembled gilla suit from the local vegetation to

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<v Speaker 2>blend in with the surrounding terrain, and he was almost

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<v Speaker 2>stepped on by patrols as he laid camouflage with grass

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<v Speaker 2>and vegetation in a meadow shortly after sunset. During this process,

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<v Speaker 2>he came face to face with a deadly bamboo viper

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<v Speaker 2>and managed to outlast the reptile until it crawled away.

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<v Speaker 2>He then managed to complete the stalk and get into

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<v Speaker 2>a concealed position, and not long afterward, the general came

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<v Speaker 2>into view.

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<v Speaker 3>I did not want none of my people did, so

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<v Speaker 3>I took the mission on myself and figuring I was

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<v Speaker 3>maybe a little bit better than I rushed up because

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<v Speaker 3>I was one training supposed to be better and uh,

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<v Speaker 3>I come out of tree line back there and UH

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<v Speaker 3>got onto the other land and I went to my

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<v Speaker 3>side and didn't go flat on my belly cause I

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<v Speaker 3>made a bigger slug trail when I was on my belly,

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<v Speaker 3>and I wormed on my side very minutely, very minutely.

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<v Speaker 4>I knew had a long ways to get.

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<v Speaker 3>They want to tire myself out too much, and UH

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<v Speaker 3>patrols were went in alarms for each other.

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<v Speaker 4>I could have.

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<v Speaker 3>Tripped the majority some of 'em.

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<v Speaker 4>And they didn't even know I was there. I was

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<v Speaker 4>in their backyard.

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<v Speaker 3>I was in their backyard, and they did expect a

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<v Speaker 3>one man attack.

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<v Speaker 4>They didn't expect that, okay.

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<v Speaker 3>And I knew from the first time when they's come

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<v Speaker 3>up wiley, gay and buy me that I hadn't made.

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<v Speaker 4>Now this be good, this be real good.

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<v Speaker 3>So I just continued swirming along, worming a law and

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<v Speaker 3>UH come many patrol many patrols come by. There was

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<v Speaker 3>two uh twenty fifty one on my left, two twin

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<v Speaker 3>fifty ones on my right, and I see them cooking

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<v Speaker 3>their groceries and wishing I was there to have a

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<v Speaker 3>little bit of it.

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<v Speaker 4>But I was definitely hungry. I was thirsty.

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<v Speaker 3>But he got a job today, can't lend now that

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<v Speaker 3>enter just you're in your bubble, and that's all it is.

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<v Speaker 4>Your job, your job.

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<v Speaker 3>And crawl up on that little rise with an escape

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<v Speaker 3>route to my right, and that's waite her to win.

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<v Speaker 3>And the temporary humidity, the whole ball of wax try

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<v Speaker 3>to run through my mind real quick, and I dumped

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<v Speaker 3>the bad guy.

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<v Speaker 2>Halfcock fired a single shot that struck the general in

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<v Speaker 2>the chest, killing him from a distance of seven hundred

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<v Speaker 2>yards using his preferred Winchester three hundred magnum bolt action rifle.

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<v Speaker 2>Carlos was deep inside the enemy compound, but this was

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<v Speaker 2>the easy part. Now he had to escape the area

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<v Speaker 2>without being captured. His egress and evasion was on. He

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<v Speaker 2>egressed out of the area as the soldiers went into

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<v Speaker 2>the trees to hide, and he made his escape without

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<v Speaker 2>being actively pursued. That is the toughest part of a

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<v Speaker 2>deep penetration mission, surviving After making the shot. On September sixteenth,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty nine, Hathcock was riding on an LVTP five

0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.640
<v Speaker 2>armored personnel carrier full of marines on Highway one north

0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.760
<v Speaker 2>of Landing Zone Baldy, a US Marine Corps and Army

0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:47.040
<v Speaker 2>Army of Republic Vietnam base located northwest of Chuli and

0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:54.000
<v Speaker 2>Quangdam Province. When the APC rolled over an anti tank mine.

0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.600
<v Speaker 2>The explosion rocked the heavy vehicle and wounded all the

0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.840
<v Speaker 2>Marines on board, and a fire broke out. Hathcock jumped

0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:02.280
<v Speaker 2>off and ran to the rear and pulled seven marines

0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:06.040
<v Speaker 2>from the vehicle, which was an incinerator. Hathcock then collapsed,

0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.280
<v Speaker 2>suffering first, second and third degree burns to his face, arms,

0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.480
<v Speaker 2>and legs, and his uniform was aflame. Another marine grabbed

0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.320
<v Speaker 2>him and pulled him away and placed him in water

0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.840
<v Speaker 2>alongside the road in a rice paddy, and he was

0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:22.360
<v Speaker 2>still smoking while recovering. Hathcock received the Purple Heart. Nearly

0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.280
<v Speaker 2>thirty years later, he received the Silver Star for this

0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:30.160
<v Speaker 2>action saving those marines. Although Hathcock had ninety three confirmed

0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.000
<v Speaker 2>kills which had to be confirmed about the spotter and

0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.040
<v Speaker 2>a third party who had to be an officer, he

0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.720
<v Speaker 2>estimated that he had killed between three hundred and four

0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:43.160
<v Speaker 2>hundred enemy personnel during the Vietnam War. However, not to

0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.480
<v Speaker 2>be sidelined, Hathcock returned to active duty and along with

0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.800
<v Speaker 2>now Major ed Land, established the Marine Corps Sniper School

0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.480
<v Speaker 2>at Marine Corps based Quantico, Virginia. The results of his

0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.800
<v Speaker 2>efforts saw the establishments of Scout sniper schools at Stones Bay,

0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:01.960
<v Speaker 2>Camp Lejiun, North Carolina, Camp Pendleton, California, and Marine Corps

0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:06.560
<v Speaker 2>based County Yoe Bay in Hawaii. Despite returning to active duty,

0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:11.000
<v Speaker 2>Hathcock was in daily constant pain, but he continued teaching snipers.

0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.840
<v Speaker 2>Hathcock's health began to deteriorate, and in nineteen seventy five

0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.280
<v Speaker 2>he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and he was medically

0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.280
<v Speaker 2>retired with full benefits and one hundred percent of his pay,

0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.400
<v Speaker 2>just fifty five days short of the full twenty year

0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:28.920
<v Speaker 2>retirement requirement. Hathcock was honored by having a rifle named

0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.120
<v Speaker 2>after him, derived from the older semi automatic in fourteen

0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.720
<v Speaker 2>and named the Springfield Armory M twenty five White Feather

0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:40.200
<v Speaker 2>due to his nickname. I met Carlos Hathcock twice. Having

0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:43.600
<v Speaker 2>been a snipper myself, I was well versed in his exploits.

0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.600
<v Speaker 2>Carlos summed up his philosophy.

0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.640
<v Speaker 3>Second live fact was great. It's very very great and

0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:54.560
<v Speaker 3>very harmful. The bad guys very harmful. One shot, one

0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:58.640
<v Speaker 3>shot upon a whole company now a whole company because

0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:04.320
<v Speaker 3>it denies the movement. It denies the movement, restricts their movement.

0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:10.479
<v Speaker 3>And that's which is good for Lanian, very good for Lanian.

0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.200
<v Speaker 3>I did not like to kill him. I really didn't

0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.119
<v Speaker 3>like to killing. But to pit myself against another living,

0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.320
<v Speaker 3>breathing human being who could kill me just as squat

0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.920
<v Speaker 3>as I could in that was the challenge of it.

0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.920
<v Speaker 3>That was a challenge. See only when you're needed, Only

0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.720
<v Speaker 3>when you're needed, or you the good guy, only when

0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:37.960
<v Speaker 3>you're needed, seems like because that's training into powers that

0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:43.600
<v Speaker 3>are they look down on snipers and everybody else.

0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.120
<v Speaker 4>Looks down on snippers because we have a job.

0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:50.760
<v Speaker 3>People down below do not understand that job, do not

0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.920
<v Speaker 3>understand what can be done for bys Night.

0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.800
<v Speaker 2>Carlos Hathcock, the legendary White Feather, died on February twenty

0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:03.439
<v Speaker 2>second nine in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is buried at

0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:08.280
<v Speaker 2>Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia, and his legend still stands.

0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.680
<v Speaker 1>And a terrific job on the editing storytelling in production

0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.560
<v Speaker 1>by our own Greg Hengler, and a special thanks to

0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Colind Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military veterans and the

0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:23.960
<v Speaker 1>founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History and terrific partners

0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:28.159
<v Speaker 1>of this show. Visit their YouTube channel. Visit it often.

0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.639
<v Speaker 1>And a special thanks posthumously to the legend to the

0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:38.879
<v Speaker 1>great Carlos Hathcuck, this sniper par excellence who in the

0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:44.760
<v Speaker 1>end started marine sniper training it had not existed before.

0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.920
<v Speaker 1>And my own mother's brother, well, he did something called

0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:52.359
<v Speaker 1>paratrooping which had not existed before in World War Two,

0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:57.240
<v Speaker 1>and so many of those innovators and those dreamers paid

0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.359
<v Speaker 1>the price of being the first. And imagine being a

0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.800
<v Speaker 1>sniper without training, because it is one of the deadliest

0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.920
<v Speaker 1>jobs there is in the military, because the other guy

0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:13.000
<v Speaker 1>sniper is looking for yours and yours theirs. It is

0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:18.040
<v Speaker 1>a very special and very singular type of talent. And

0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.840
<v Speaker 1>my goodness, that secret assignment that he described to kill

0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.000
<v Speaker 1>a Vietnamese general, and how many lives it could save.

0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:30.760
<v Speaker 1>Crawling those fifteen hundred yards, as he said, squirming, not

0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.960
<v Speaker 1>just crawling like a snake, and then I dumped the

0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:39.800
<v Speaker 1>bad guy with his Winchester Bolt action rifle. The hard part,

0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.840
<v Speaker 1>of course, to get away. And what a thing. So

0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.360
<v Speaker 1>many of our soldiers do for us, doing things like this,

0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:50.320
<v Speaker 1>crawling in a swamp, and of course the record is surreal,

0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:55.080
<v Speaker 1>ninety three confirmed kills and estimated three hundred or more

0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:59.399
<v Speaker 1>by his account, and then establishing the Marine Corps Sniper School,

0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:06.240
<v Speaker 1>and ultimately his final statement, I did not like the killing.

0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.520
<v Speaker 1>It was his job. The story of Carlos Hathcock, the

0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:17.359
<v Speaker 1>legendary White Feather, an American sniper. Here on our American

0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:17.960
<v Speaker 1>stories