The American Sniper Other American Snipers Look Up To
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Chris Kyle wrote American Sniper—later adapted into Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated film—Carlos Hathcock had already cemented his status as a legendary marksman. Known for his efficiency and fearlessness during the Vietnam War, Hathcock wore a white feather on his gear, boldly challenging Communist forces to find him. Here's his remarkable story.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:14.1 | And we continue with our American stories. |
| 0:18.7 | No single soldier on the battlefield is more revered or more reviled than the sniper. |
| 0:25.4 | They are seen as either cowardly assassins or surgical soldiers. With a single bullet, snipers can |
| 0:31.6 | change the outcome of a battle, or even a war. Long before Chris Kyle penned American sniper, |
| 0:38.8 | which became Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated movie masterpiece, |
| 0:42.6 | Carlos Hathcock was already a legend. |
| 0:45.7 | Hathcock was so efficient and fearless during the Vietnam War |
| 0:48.9 | that he wore a white feather on his gear, |
| 0:51.9 | taunting the communists to come find him. |
| 0:54.7 | Our next story comes to us from Colin D. Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military veterans |
| 1:00.1 | and the founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History. |
| 1:04.4 | Their videos focus on military heroes, actions, and events spanning across the globe |
| 1:09.9 | and are watched by hundreds of thousands of people. |
| 1:13.6 | Here's Colin Heaton with the story. |
| 1:19.2 | Carlos Norman Hathcock was born on May 20th, 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas. |
| 1:25.2 | Hathcock supported his extremely poor family by shooting and hunting at an |
| 1:28.8 | early age with a 22-calibber J.C. Higgins' single-shot rifle. He later graduated to using a |
| 1:35.2 | car 98 German Mouser that his father had brought back from World War II. Hathcock joined the |
| 1:41.7 | Marines on May 20, 1959, at the age of 17, and rapidly became a known quantity. |
| 1:47.4 | He had won the matches at Camp Perry in 1965 and the Wimbledon Cup shooting championships. |
| 1:53.9 | In 1966, Hathcock deployed to South Vietnam as a military policeman, but later became a sniper |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

