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Our American Stories

The American Sniper Other American Snipers Look Up To

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6817 Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2024

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Chris Kyle penned "American Sniper,” which became Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated movie masterpiece — Carlos Hathcock was already a legend. Hathcock was so efficient and fearless during the Vietnam War, that he wore a white feather on his gear—taunting the Communists to come find him.

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Transcript

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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 and the

1:00.9

founders of the YouTube channel Forgotten History. Their videos focus on military heroes,

1:06.9

actions, and events spanning across the globe and are watched by hundreds of thousands of people.

1:13.6

Here's Colin Heaton with his story.

1:19.3

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

1:28.5

at an early age with a 22-c-ciggin's single-shot rifle. He later graduated to using a

1:35.2

car 98 German Mauser that his father had brought back from World War II. Hathcock joined

1:41.6

the Marines on May 20, 1959, at the age of 17, and rapidly became a known

1:46.4

quantity. He had won the matches at Camp Perry in 1965 and the Wimbledon Cup shooting

1:52.5

championships. In 1966, Hathcock deployed to South Vietnam as a military policeman,

1:58.5

but later became a sniper after captain, later major,

...

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