[Old and Reliable]

Gunny Hathcock was badly burned- rescuing five brother Marines from a burning Amtrac- NW of Da Nang Sept 1969--that ran over a 500 lb. Gook planted box mine-their Co, 2nd. Lt. (Hyland if memory serves) waved them onto a set of tracks, and made the fatal error of many Jr. Ossifers in their first weeks "In Country"-- rule Numba One- NEVER take an existing trail- you ain't tracking deer in the Adairondacks- rule Numba Two- NEVER EVER take the same track back out that you took in-- He was badly burnded, saved five Marines, was med-evaced to Da Nang, then to Yakota AFB in Tokyo, then finally to the burn center at Brooke AH in San Antonio. His CO had nominated Carlos for the Navy Cross, but Hathcock declined it- saying that the other Marines were the real heroes--

After he served his 20, he did take up shark fishing off the Carolina coast, and supposedly had read Hemingway's novel "The Old Man and The Sea" and felt a kinship with another "Carlos"-- Hemingway's first mate on the Pilar, after whom the Old Man's character in the book was modeled.


There have been many Marines. There have been many Marine marksmen. But there has been only one Sniper- Gy/Sgt. Carlos Norman Hathcock. One Shot-- One Kill.

Semper Fi- Gunny-- for a long as a Marine's best friend is his rifle, your legend will live on forever..