[Halkon]

I'll start out

Simo Hayha; extraordinary Finnish Sniper known as "White Death"; +1 Bada$$

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_Häyhä

"The unofficial Finnish frontline figure from the battlefield of Kollaa places the number of Häyhä's sniper kills at 542. A daily account of the kills at Kollaa was conducted for the Finnish snipers. Häyhä used a Finnish variant, M/28, of the Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle (known as "Pystykorva" rifle, meaning "spitz"), because it suited his small frame (5 ft 3 in/1.60 m). He preferred to use iron sights rather than telescopic sights to present a smaller target (the sniper must raise his head higher when using a telescopic sight), to prevent visibility risks (a telescopic sight's glass can fog up easily), and aid concealment (sunlight glare in telescopic sight lenses can reveal a sniper's position). Another tactic used by Häyhä was to freeze the snow in front of him so that the shot wouldn't puff the snow, thus revealing his position. He also kept snow in his mouth so that when breathing he wouldn't reveal his position. :thumb:

Besides his sniper kills, Simo Häyhä was also credited with as many as two hundred kills with a Suomi M-31 SMG, thus bringing his credited kills to at least 705. However, the latter claim has never been substantiated. All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished within 100 days, prior to injuries caused by an enemy bullet. Häyhä's record of an average of 5 kills a day, almost one kill per daylight hour of the short winter day, is unique, and he was called unstoppable by the Soviet Army.

Before his injury, the Soviets tried several ploys to get rid of him, including counter snipers and artillery strikes. Their best effort left the back of his coat torn away by shrapnel but left Häyhä himself untouched.

However, on March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the jaw during close combat. The bullet tumbled upon impact and left his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his head was missing". He regained consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared. Shortly after the war, Häyhä was promoted straight from corporal to second lieutenant"

 

[Halkon]

Legendary Sportsman Jeff Cooper

Col. Jeff Cooper (USMC, ret.) deceased.

Inventor of the Modern Technique of the Pistol, and Founder of Gunsite, AZ

It was Col. Cooper who taught 'White Feather' to be a Master marksman, and best Sniper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper_(colonel)

In the 1960s he coined the term hoplophobia, an irrational and pathological phobia of weapons. :taped:

"The world scene is not so bright, since the nanny states do not seem to understand that it is the responsibility of the individual to protect himself and his family, in the absence of the state. We remain the last best hope of Earth, which would be a rather bleak prospect if it were not that we are now the one great super power. It is comforting, in a way, to observe the ineptitude of our world enemies. Our optimism is fortified by the understanding that we now alone cultivate the warrior spirit. It is not only permitted, but fashionable, for the individual citizen to possess the means and the skill with which to protect himself, his property, his family, and his political rights. There are cultural losers among us, but as of now they constitute a minority. Thus American shooters stand against the encroachments of those who do not believe in liberty. :

It is vital, of course, for us to keep up the battle. Despite our majority position, there are plenty of Americans who do not value their political heritage, and who would reject it if given the chance. It is up to us to see that they do not get the chance."

Col. Cooper would surely be a friend to Bob the Nailer; he must rest uneasily in his grave at todays News.
Could you be the next 'Nailer'?

"His second major contribution to firearms design was what he termed a Scout Rifle. These bolt action carbines are typically .30 caliber (7.62 mm), less than 1 meter in length and less than 3 kilograms in weight, with iron and optical sights, and fitted with practical slings (such as Ching Slings) for shooting and carrying and capable of hitting man-sized targets out to 450 meters without scopes. Typically they employ forward-mounted low-power long eye relief scopes or sights to afford easy access to the top of the rifle action for rapid reloading. Steyr, Ruger, Savage, and several other gun makers now manufacture Scout rifles that roughly match Cooper's specifications, but most lack auxiliary iron sights."

 

[NEWGUY556]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gordon
Gordon was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia with other Delta members in the summer of 1993 as part of Task Force Ranger. On October 3, 1993 Gordon was Sniper Team Leader during Operation Gothic Serpent, a joint-force assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

During the assault, Super Six One, one of the Army's Black Hawk helicopters providing insertion and air support to the assault team, was shot down and had crashed in the city. A Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) team was dispatched to the first crash site to secure it. Shortly thereafter, Super Six Four was shot down as well. Ranger forces on the ground were not able to assist the downed helicopter crew of the second crash site as they were already engaged in heavy combat with Aidid's militia and making their way to the first crash site.

Gordon and his Delta Force sniper teammates Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart and Sergeant First Class Brad Hallings who were providing sniper cover from the air, requested to be dropped at the second crash site in order to protect the four critically wounded crew, despite the fact that large numbers of armed, hostile Somalis were converging on the area.

Mission commanders denied Gordon's request, saying that the situation was already too dangerous for the three Delta snipers to effectively protect the Blackhawk crew from the ground. Command's position was that the snipers could be of more assistance by continuing to provide air cover. Gordon, however, concluded that there was no way for the Black Hawk crew could survive on their own, and repeated his request twice until he finally received permission. Sergeant First Class Brad Hallings had assumed control of a minigun after a crew chief was injured and was not inserted with Shughart and Gordon.

Once on the ground, Gordon and Shughart, armed with only their personal weapons and sidearms, had to fight their way to the location of the downed Blackhawk. By this time more Somalis were arriving who were intent on either capturing or killing the American servicemen. When they reached Super Six Four, Gordon and Shughart extracted the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant and the other crew members from the aircraft, and established defensive positions around the crash.

Despite having inflicted heavy casualties against the Somalis, the two Delta snipers were too outnumbered and outgunned. Their ammunition nearly depleted, Gordon and Shughart finally were killed by Somali gunfire. It is believed that Gordon was first to be fatally wounded. His teammate Shughart retrieved Gordon's CAR-15 assault rifle and gave it to Durant to use. Shortly after, Shughart was killed and Durant was taken alive. Immediately after the battle, the Somalis counted 24 of their own men dead with many more severely wounded who may have died later of their wounds.[1]

There was some confusion in the aftermath of the action as to who had been killed first. The official citation states that it was Shughart, but author Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, the best-selling book about the October 1993 events, relates an account by Sergeant Paul Howe, another Delta operator participating in the battle. Howe said that he heard Shughart call for help on the radio and that the weapon handed to Durant was not the distinctive M14 used by Shughart. It is likely that Durant would have commented had it been an M14, as that weapon is very different from the CAR-15 Gordon had. Furthermore, Howe said that Gordon would never have given his own weapon to another soldier to use while he was still able to fight.[2]

In Durant's book, In the Company of Heroes, he states that Gordon was on the left side of the Blackhawk, after both he and Shughart moved Durant to a safer location, and only heard Gordon say, "Damn, I'm hit." Afterwards Shughart came from the left side of the Blackhawk with the CAR-15. [3]

In the 2001 film Black Hawk Down, Gordon was portrayed by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster Waldau; the account would generally follow that of the book.

After the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, United States Special Forces units were inserted into Afghanistan to assist the Northern Alliance forces in overthrowing the Taliban and Al-Quaeda terrorists. Following an intense mountain battle known as Operation Anaconda in March 2002, U.S. troops searching a bunker complex found a GPS unit and holding pouch labeled "G. Gordon". Intelligence analysts believed at first this was Sergeant Gordon's GPS unit that he purchased on the private market and used in Somalia. The Gordon family was notified immediately of the find prior to the information being released to the public.[4] It ultimately turned out that it wasn't Gordon's GPS but one of a helicopter pilot lost in an earlier fight during operation Anaconda.[5]


[edit] Medal of Honor citation
On May 23, 1994, both Gordon and Shughart were posthumously decorated the Medal of Honor in recognition for the actions they took and the sacrifices they made to help protect the life of Durant and the crew of Super Six Four. They were the only soldiers participating in Operation Gothic Serpent to receive the military's highest honor, and the first Medal of Honor recipients since the Vietnam War.[6]

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Lincoln, Maine. Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Shughart

Shughart was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia with other Delta members in the summer of 1993 as part of Task Force Ranger. On October 3, 1993, Shughart, as part of a three-man Delta Force sniper team including Sergeant First Class Brad Hallings, and team leader Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, participated in Operation Gothic Serpent, a joint-force assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

During the assault, Super Six One, one of the Army's Blackhawk helicopters providing insertion and air support to the assault team, was shot down and had crashed in the city. The CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) team was dispatched to the first crash site to secure it. Shortly after, Super Six Four was shot down as well. Ranger forces on the ground were not able to assist the downed helicopter crew of the second crash site as they were already engaged in heavy combat with Aidid's militia and were making their way to the first crash site.

Shughart, Hallings and Gordon, who were providing sniper cover from the air, wanted to be dropped at the second crash site in order to protect the four critically wounded crew, despite the fact that large numbers of armed, hostile Somalis were converging on the area.

As the sniper team leader, Gordon made a formal request to be inserted. Mission commanders denied the request, saying that the situation was already too dangerous for the three Delta snipers to effectively protect the Blackhawk crew from the ground. Command's position was that the snipers could be of more assistance by continuing to cover the site from the air. Gordon, however, concluded that there was no possibility the Blackhawk crew could survive on their own, and kept repeating his request until he finally received permission. Before they could be inserted, a crew chief on their Blackhawk was injured and Hallings had to take his place on the minigun, leaving only Shugart and Gordon to be sent in to defend Super Six Four's crew.

Once on the ground, the Delta snipers, armed with only their personal weapons and sidearms, had to fight their way to the location of the downed Blackhawk. By this time there were more Somalis arriving, intent on either capturing or killing the American servicemen. When they reached Super Six Four, Gordon and Shughart extracted the pilot, CWO Mike Durant and the other crew members from the aircraft, and established defensive positions around the crash site.

Despite heavy casualties inflicted against the Somalis, Gordon and Shughart were outnumbered, outgunned, and unable to withstand the onslaught as their ammunition depleted. It is believed that Gordon was first to be fatally wounded. Shortly after Shughart returned to the wreckage he was killed by Somali gunfire. The mob then overran the crash site, found Durant and captured him.[1]

There was some confusion in the aftermath of the action as who had been killed first. The official citation states that it was Shughart, but Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, the best-selling book about the October 1993 events, relates an account by Sergeant Paul Howe, another Delta operator participating in the battle. Howe said that he heard Shughart call for help on the radio and that the weapon handed to Durant was not the distinctive M14 used by Shughart. Durant already armed with his H&K MP5 (standard-issue automatic weapon for helicopter pilots) which had jammed on him several times. Durant also had a sidearm which he never used. It is likely that Durant would have commented had it been an M14, as that weapon is very different from the CAR-15 Gordon had. Furthermore, Howe said that Gordon would never have given his own weapon to another soldier to use while he was still able to fight.[2]

In Black Hawk Down, the 2001 movie directed by Ridley Scott and based on Bowden's book, Shughart was portrayed by actor Johnny Strong.


[edit] Medal of Honor citation
On May 23, 1994, Shughart and Gordon were posthumously decorated with the Medals of Honor in recognition for the actions they took and the sacrifices they made to help protect the life of Durant and the crew of Super Six Four. They were the only soldiers participating in Operation Gothic Serpent to receive the U.S. military's highest honor, and the first Medal of Honor recipients since the Vietnam War.[3]

Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army. Place and date: October 3, 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Newville, Pennsylvania.

Citation:

Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

Heros

 

[NEWGUY556]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Applegate
Colonel Rex Applegate (1914-1998) worked in the Office of Strategic Services where he trained allied special forces in close-quarter combat during World War II.

In 1943 he wrote Kill or Get Killed, still considered the classic textbook of Western-style hand-to-hand combat. The updated 1976 edition of Kill or Get Killed was also published by the US Marine Corps as Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication 12-80. From the foreword:

"Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-80, Kill or Get Killed, is published to ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine or to be published in Fleet Marine Force manuals."
and

"This reference publication was written in 1976 by Lieutenant Colonel Rex Applegate, USA (Ret), with the help of the Combat Section, Military Intelligence Training Center, Camp Ritchie, Maryland. At last there is one volume which speaks to the subjects of unarmed combat (offensive and defensive), combat use of weapons, disarming the enemy, handling of prisoners, the handle of mob/crowd disobedience, the use of chemicals in such situations, and how to establish a professional riot control unit."
Applegate developed the techniques outlined in the book during his work with William E. Fairbairn, who had previously developed his techniques while working for the Shanghai Municipal Police from 1907 to 1940. Fairbairn drew heavily on Chinese martial arts, which he simplified and tailored to the needs of training police in one of the most crime ridden cities in the world, with its history of opium trade, rebellion, and Triad gangsters. The result of this was the development of what is widely considered the first scientifically based martial art, Defendu. Applegate's techniques are heavily based on Fairbairn's Defendu, and enhanced with feedback from the OSS operatives who put his techniques into action in World War II.

Applegate was the proponent for a system of combat pistol shooting that is outlined in Kill or Get Killed, based on point shooting and stressing training for close range, fast response shooting. This system is somewhat at odds with the other prominent system developed and promoted by Jeff Cooper, called the "Modern Technique". Both systems have many supporters, with variants of Cooper's system being the more common currently. Supporters of Cooper's methods point to the nearly universal use of Cooper's methods in IPSC and other forms of action shooting, while Applegate's supporters point to police incidents where officers trained in Cooper's methods discharge vast numbers of rounds at very close range, most measured in tens of feet (3 m) or less, with few if any disabling hits. The last years of Applegate's life were spent actively promoting his combat pistol shooting methods to the police.

Applegate also co-wrote The Close-Combat Files of Colonel Rex Applegate[1] with Chuck Melson. There is also a line of knives, produced by Gerber Legendary Blades, based on a design that he and William Harsey Jr. developed based on his work with Fairbairn.

Colonel Applegate was a founding member of the International Close Combat Instructors Association. He was inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 1994 Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia in recognition for the impact that his designs have made upon the cutlery industry as well as his writings on knife fighting.[2]

I know that later in life (80's) a group of thugs tried to mug him. He beat them down with his cane. I tried finding a link but was unsuccessful. I remeber reading about it shortly after it had happend.

 

[NEWGUY556]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Tilghman
Law enforcement
In September 1878, he served as a scout for the U.S. Cavalry during a surge of Cheyenne raids on settlements, working alongside the likes of gunman John Joshua Webb. Later that same year, he was approached by Bat Masterson to serve as a deputy sheriff, and he accepted. He served in that capacity until 1884 and earned an excellent reputation, working at various law enforcement jobs for the rest of his life, earning the respect of Masterson, Doc Holliday, and Wyatt and Virgil Earp. By 1889 Tilghman moved on to Guthrie, Oklahoma, during the land rush. Town Marshal Bill Grimes approached him to serve as deputy marshal, and he accepted.

The territory had formerly been part of the Indian Territory and was still one of the most lawless places in the west. As a deputy US Marshal, Tilghman was one of the three men most responsible for finally bringing law and order to the area. The others were Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen. The trio were collectively known as the Three Guardsmen and were responsible for the arrest and/or killings of many of the worst criminal elements of the era, numbering by some estimates as high as 300 arrests, including the systematic elimination of the notorious Wild Bunch. On January 15, 1895, his single handed capture of Bill Doolin in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, brought him increased fame as a lawman, for which he became best known. That same year he shot and wounded Doolin gang member "Little Bill" Raidler. Raidler was sentenced to prison and was released some years later because he suffered constantly from his gunshot wounds. Raidler died in 1904 as a result of those wounds.


[edit] Retirement, return to law enforcement
Tilghman retired from his position in 1910 and was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate. He also accepted the position of police chief of Oklahoma City in 1911. In 1915, he co-wrote, directed, and starred in the movie The Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws, which dramatized the law enforcement activities of Tilghman and the other "Guardsmen." The film is noted as an early attempt to de-glamorize the image of outlaws. In 1924, at the age of 70, Tilghman accepted a position as marshal of Cromwell, Oklahoma. During this time he lived in Chandler, Oklahoma, where he is buried.


[edit] Murder
He was in the job less than a year before he was killed in the line of duty. He died on November 1, 1924. Wiley Lynn, a corrupt Prohibition Agent, shot him. Lynn and Tilghman had had numerous verbal confrontations because Lynn repeatedly released prisoners who were arrested by Tilghman. The incident began on Halloween night, when Tilghman, Deputy Hugh Sawyer, and businessman W. E. Sirmans were having coffee at a cafe called Ma Murphy's.

Shots were heard outside, and Tilghman drew his handgun and went outside. In the street stood a drunken Wiley Lynn, with a gun in his hand. Brothel madame Rose Lutke was standing beside him. Another prostitute, Eva Caton, was sitting inside Lynn's car with a date, a furloughed army sergeant. Tilghman clasped Lynn's gun hand and called for Deputy Sawyer to come assist. [3]

As Sawyer ran outside, Tilghman, Lynn and Rose Lutke stood body to body in the darkness. Two shots rang out, and Lutke screamed. As Deputy Sawyer rushed forward, Tilghman slumped forward and fell. Deputy Sawyer, inexperienced, did not fire but rather disarmed Lynn and yelled "Wiley Lynn has shot the marshal". Lynn then fled with Rose Lutke to the car and sped away. [4]

Tilghman's body was laid in state at the Oklahoma state Capitol. One month later, the town of Cromwell was torched, allegedly by angry citizens, with every brothel, bar, flop house and pool hall burned to the ground. [5]

Wiley Lynn was acquitted after several of the witnesses to the shooting, allegedly intimidated, failed to appear, and Deputy Marshal Hugh Sawyer, whether he was coerced or merely incompetent, testified that he could not see clearly as to what actually happened. Rose Lutke disappeared, and was never heard from again. Despite his acquittal, Lynn was dismissed from the Prohibition Unit. Years later, in a shootout with another police officer, Agent Crockett Long of the Oklahoma State Crime Bureau, he was killed, but not before fatally wounding Long and an innocent bystander.

One month after the murder, the town of Cromwell was burned to the ground, with every saloon and brothel burned. Allegedly it was law enforcement friends to Tilghman who did the deed, but no arrests were ever made. The town of Cromwell never recovered to its former "wild" status after that, and as of a 2000 census, its population was less than 300 residents. [6]

 

[nullzero]

Here is a top 10 sniper list from military channel http://military.discovery.com/technology/weapons/snipers/snipers-intro.html

Here is a recent amazing shot taken by a Canadian sniper;

9. Rob Furlong

An angry viewer once berated us for not highlighting the achievements of the Canadian military. Shame on us. But the sniper who comes in at No. 9 would have earned his spot even if not for the viewer mail.

Canadian Cpl. Rob Furlong (not pictured here) is responsible for the farthest sniper kill ever recorded. He took out a man in an al-Qaeda mortar nest from 2,430 meters away. That's just over 1.5 miles.

Not bad for a Canadian, eh?

 

[Herd Sniper]

Doc Holliday and the shootout at the OK Corral. Keep in mind that Doc was NOT a sworn law enforcement officer in Tombstone when the shootout happened. Doc went along with the 3 Earp brothers to confront and engage the Clantons at the corral. He knowingly, willfully and without compensation or reward walked right into a gunfight and history because he refused to let a friend of his, Wyatt Earp, down. Doc was also the smartest one, if not the bravest one, at the shootout because he brought a Greener 10 gauge shotgun or coach gun to the gunfight as well as several pistols. Most of the old west gunfighters were braggarts but Doc wasn't like any of the other gunfighters. Doc was exceptional in bravery and how he did things.

 

[Vippy]

Bonnie and Clyde. Just love that story.

 

[NCDoberman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock


Carlos Hathcock "white feather"

Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Norman Hathcock II (May 20, 1942 – February 23, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps. His fame as a sniper and his dedication to long distance shooting led him to become a major developer of the United States Marine Corps Sniper training program. He has, in recent years, also had the honor of having a rifle named after him, a variant of the M21 dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather.[1]