Few have likely ever heard of Vietnam Marine Corps sniper Chuck Mawhinney. Most of the known sniper exploits from that war belong to the legendary Carlos Hathcock, and rightfully so. Hathcock’s 93 confirmed kills are common knowledge for all Marines. However, Mawhinney racked up 103 confirmed kills between 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam, with as many as an additional 216 unconfirmed kills.
Mawhinney kept his stories close to his chest for decades after he left the service. In the last 10 years or so, he has since shared many of those stories because he felt it necessary to “say something that might help some other scared serviceman stay alive someday.”
As time went on, he became more comfortable telling his stories, and even went so far as to describe his time as a sniper as “the ultimate hunting trip: a man hunting another man who was hunting me. Don’t talk to me about hunting lions or elephants; they don’t fight back with rifles and scopes. I just loved it.”
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Few have likely ever heard of Vietnam Marine Corps sniper Chuck Mawhinney. Most of the known sniper exploits from that war belong to the legendary Carlos Hathcock, and rightfully so. Hathcock’s 93 confirmed kills are common knowledge for all Marines. However, Mawhinney racked up 103 confirmed kills between 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam, with as many as an additional 216 unconfirmed kills.
Mawhinney kept his stories close to his chest for decades after he left the service. In the last 10 years or so, he has since shared many of those stories because he felt it necessary to “say something that might help some other scared serviceman stay alive someday.”
As time went on, he became more comfortable telling his stories, and even went so far as to describe his time as a sniper as “the ultimate hunting trip: a man hunting another man who was hunting me. Don’t talk to me about hunting lions or elephants; they don’t fight back with rifles and scopes. I just loved it.”
For more information on Chuck, take a look at this featured article and his personal website.
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