A True American Hero
Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock
What makes someone a true hero? Is it feats of amazing courage and audacity? Is it it an ability to make a one in a million shot time and time again? Is it the awards and medals that come with such feats and skills or is it something more? Is it the ability to risk your life for others? Is it an ability to carry on in spite of great odds? Is it something ever deeper? GySgt Hathcock was all of these things and more. I will let other people tell you in their own words why he was their hero and what he meant to them. GySgt Hathcock meant so many things to so many different people. This page and the following dedications are our tribute to this great man.
There have been movies based off of his amazing skills as a sniper and books written about his life but that isn't what impressed me most about this Marine. True his skills with a rifle are unsurpassed. True his skills as a sniper are unparalleled. These are not the things that truely made this man great though.
It was this man's ability to place all other lives before his own. That day in vietnam when a 500 lb box mine was exploded underneath the amtrac he was riding on Staff Sergeant Hathcock (his rank then) didn't free himself and worry about saving his own life. SSgt Hathcock inspite of his burns and injuries proceeded to save the other marines onboard from the flaming inferno that the amtrac had become. To him this wasn't an act of heroics it was simply what Marines did.
With injuries that would have felled an average man GySgt Hathcock found ways around every obstacle that was thrown in his way. By sheer will he made the most out of the disabilities he had to overcome. Even after retired from the USMC with 100% disability this man found ways to make the most of his abilities and gifts by advising and working with numerous military commands, police departments and more. Though diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease that would eventually take his life he never forgot his second loves of the corps or shooting.
From the time of his retirement in April of 1979 many a Marine, police officer, sniper and civillian has made a pilgrimige to meet the man who will always epitomize what a Marine and a sniper should be. Without fail he and his wife graciously welcomed these people into their lives sharing with them and in the end sending them away knowing that they too had learned something from them.
On July 4 of 1997 my husband, a fellow Marine and I made the same pilgrimage. They wanted to meet this amazing Marine but I wanted to meet the woman who must have had the strength of Job to have married him. His wife and he welcomed us into their home and spent time with us, not only sharing a small portion of their lives with us but also showing genuine interest in our lives. We will never forget the time spent with this wonderful man and his wife.
This is just one part of what made this man so amazing and worthy of being called a hero. There is so much we can learn from him. This amazing man showed us that we can excell no matter where we come from or what handicaps face us. That we need to set our standards and goals high and shoot for them no matter what. If you would like to learn more about GySgt Hathcock's life please explore the books that we have listed below as well as the tributes that visitors to our site have contributed about him over the years.
In February of 1999 this inspiring Marine finally lost his long battle against MS. The world and the Corps are a better place for having known this great man for a short time. Semper Fi, Gunny!
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