“Deadly Shootouts: Carlos Hathcock Original American Sniper” – Directing & Costuming Showcase 

 Time slows down when bullets fly. For a sniper, time is irrelevant when you’re invisible. Inches can take hours and kill shots days. Surrounded by the enemy, a level head is all you have to rely on. And if you’re Carlos Hathcock, one of the best that’s ever lived, extra bullets won’t be needed because it only takes one if you can make it out alive.

Oh, I hear them sing. The angels can bring me home.  The year is 1966. And on the other side of the world, in the jungles of Vietnam, US forces are tangled kneedeep in an unconventional war against an elusive and often hidden enemy. In the densely wooded hills 16 clicks southwest of Daang South Vietnam outside the US base Camp Mure aka Hill 55. A US Marine sniper team has found a

sniper nest belonging to one of the NVA’s deadliest shooters. The adversary was here only minutes ago. Anything on the mission is spotter Corporal John Burke and gunnery sergeant and sniper. Oh, Carlos Hathcock, known as White Feather to the Vietkong. And the target has been waiting for them. You see that? Engaged in a dangerous counter sniper duel, Carlos won’t have the chance to regret a miscalculation.

Many people consider Carl Hathcock the the greatest military sniper of all time. Cool, calm, methodical, highly skilled, the pinnacle of military effectiveness. The sniper comes to us as another version of the outsider who has a special gift. In American culture, it has always been an attractive character. We have films like Tom Behringer and Sniper.

 We have Mark Wahlberg and Shooter moments in films like Saving Private Ryan as well as now American sniper. Carlos Hathcock is the inspiration for sniperbased film making. He was the epitome of everything a sniper should be. In many ways he defined what a sniper is for the current generation. He was a killing machine. Hathcock and Burke set out on a mission outside Camp Mure to put a stop to killings that have been happening at the base.

 They’re hunting for an NVA sniper who is hunting them. With 93 confirmed kills, but a rough tally closer to 400, Hathcock is infamous among the North Vietnamese Army. and the Vietkong has placed a $30,000 bounty on his head. $30,000 bounty meant he was public enemy number one to the North Vietnamese army. Now the NVA has sent their best sniper known only as the Cobra to kill him.

 Carlos is caught in a cat and mouse game. And to get his target, he must be willing to play the role of the prey. Before he even came to Vietnam, Carlos was on the military’s radar screen as an exceptional marksman. He had won the Wimbledon Cup in 1965, and that is no easy feat. That means he bested over 3,000 fellow marksmen at 1,000 yards with the 30 odd 6 rifle.

When Carlos was sent to Vietnam, he was assigned a special sniper scout unit. Hathcock quickly proved he was exceptional. Wherever he went, enemy bodies piled up, especially officers. The Vietkong responds to Hathcock’s success with snipers of their own. Carlos kills them all, but the most recent foe has taken a deadly toll on Hill 55.

 Cobra begins picking off American soldiers inside their exposed base, hoping to draw Hathcock, into the open. Finally, Carlos can take it no longer. He gets his spotter, Burke, and off they go into the jungle. He knows he’s being lured into the jungle by Cobra. That’s exactly what Cobra wants. He wants to get Carlos.

 He wants to get the bounty that’s on Carlos’s head. But Carlos plans to get Cobra first. Cobra has been operating from a hilltop north of the base. Hathcock and Burke are making their way to a nearby creek bed spotted on the map, which could serve as a vital link to Cobra’s whereabouts. Carlos knows a lot about what Cobra is up to because Carlos uses the same techniques.

 He knows there’s got to be an escape route that Cobra can use to swiftly get back into the jungle and hide himself. He’s got to have a hideout somewhere. They see how Cobra has moved along a stream bed and they find footprints. Telltale sign that this is Cobra’s escape route. Carlos has mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, it could be a lucky discovery.

 On the other hand, he as a sniper himself has to think, is this a trap? Why would Cobra, who is incredibly good at his job, leave such an obvious clue? Unless he’s trying to lure me into the range of his bullet. We were working our way along and I made a mistake.  stepped on a rotten log and it gave way on me. I’m hit. I’m hit.

 I’m hit. Carlos is horrified. And he’s certain that he’s gotten his spotter killed by his misstep. You ain’t hit. He just killed the devil out of your canteen. You got to move. Come on. Miraculously, Burke is alive and unharmed thanks to his canteen. But can a canteen really stop a bullet? Or did Cobra miss his mark? We’ve brought in twotime national champion shooter Tory Nunaka to find out how a US Army canteen stands up to a sniper’s bullet.

 We know water slows down bullets, so we wanted to see could a canteen really save someone’s life. The North Vietnamese snipers usually carried the Mosen Nagant 189130, a slightly less accurate rifle compared to the 30 6. Head on. The bullet shreds both the canteen and the abdomen of our dummy. It’s more likely that Cobra mistook the canteen as the outline of the body.

Meaning Burke was lucky and turned away before the shot. Carlos and Burke rushed to the position from which their certain Cobra has fired. But Cobra’s playing the same game. He’s actually rushed back to their former position cuz he thinks he’s killed one of them. Now they scan the countryside looking for a sign, looking for any  movement.

 You see that? Suddenly, Carlos sees a glint of light. Is it just broken glass? Is it a fluttering bird? Or is it Cobra’s sniper scope? Carlos has to make a split-second decision. That means the difference between life and death. Has he seen what he thinks he’s seen? If he’s wrong and takes a shot, he’s revealed his position.

in the jungles of Vietnam, where US forces fight a hostile enemy in a hostile environment. American sniper Carlos Hathcock is on a mission to eliminate an NBA sniper known only as the  Cobra. Hathcock has risked a shot on the glimmer of a chance he’s seen his hidden foe. And now he must bear the consequences.

 Hathcock and Burke make their way up the hill cautiously. They’re hoping to find Cobra’s body. They could just as easily find a bullet instead. Hathcock and Burke not only find the slain remains of their enemy, they also witness the manner in which Cobra’s death was delivered straight through the lens of his scope. Carlos’s shot isn’t a lucky shot.

 is a shot of incredible skill. But it’s extraordinary to think that the only way he could have brought it off is if Cobra’s rifle is pointed in the exact same position. A millisecond later, Carlos would have suffered the same fate. Shot through the eye as the bullet went through the scope and then into the back of his brain.

I am for the glint. From the look of things, I was just faster on the trigger than he was. It’s a scene that you’d expect to see in a film. And in fact, it’s in Saving Private Ryan. But the moment in Private Ryan is derived from this actual historical occurrence in Vietnam. Hollywood’s take on Hathcock’s famous shot was pulled off with special effects.

 But can the shot be recreated in real life? To find out, we’ve brought back national shooting champion Tory Nonaka. Halfcock’s shot down a scope is one of the most famous shots a marksman has ever made. hurried and in the face of death, Carlos managed to hit a spot the size of a silver dollar at almost 500 yards.

 This is just something I have to try. This is such a challenging shot at 40 yard and I can’t believe Hascock was able to make this at 10 times this distance. With Cobra dead, Hathcock will move on to new missions. Carlos’s exploits only reaffirm his status among the military brass. Reports come in repeatedly of him alone in the jungle for days on end in extremely difficult physical conditions and always achieving his target.

 He then becomes command’s go-to guy for seemingly impossible missions. In a pivotal phase of the war, Army intelligence uncovers the location of a top North Vietnamese general hiding in Laos. Using troops or an air assault to take him out across the border would violate neutrality. But sending a lone unidentifiable assassin could be plausibly deniable if captured.

 Military intelligence reports that an important North Vietnamese general has taken up headquarters at an old rubber plantation. The field around the plantation is a mile and a half wide. No way that you can get a long distance shot that’s going to be effective. So, you’re going to have to get in close.

 Of course, this has to be a volunteer mission. It’s just simply too risky. It’s almost suicidal. Carlos doesn’t hesitate. Naturally, he takes it on. The plan is to airdrop Carlos several miles from the location where he’s out of sight and earshot. Then it will be up to him to inch his way close enough to the plantation house to take out the general.

After the insertion, I took the white feather out of my hat, stuck leaves and sticks anywhere in my uniform they’d fit, filled my canteen, and started crawling. Carlos, of course, is a a master of camouflage and disguise and so tightly controlled at being perfectly still that the foot patrols that go up and down the field actually pass right by him.

 almost trip over him and never see him. We’re used to seeing instances on film of people stalking other people, but we are talking about movement in inches to avoid revealing your position. Combine that with the heat, you’ve got one canteen of water, the insects, the vipers who are slithering around in Southeast Asia.

 You are literally living on the land, and you have nowhere to go until that objective is reached or you are discovered and killed. After crawling for 3 days, Carlos is approximately 800 yardds from the general’s quarters when he catches the first glimpse of his quarry. He hears the sound of the general’s car approaching the plantation.

Through a scope, Carlos sees the general emerge from the car surrounded by the usual codery of bodyguards moving toward the house. It’s just a complete block of people. Then suddenly the general steps clear for a split second. It’s 1966 and the Vietnam War grinds on. American sniper Carlos Hathcock is deep behind enemy lines on an improbable solo mission to eliminate a North Vietnamese general.

 He’s crawled for 3 days to get close enough for a shot when he hears the general’s car approaching. I saw the doors open up. He didn’t get out and those guys started walking in front of him. Carlos is trained on those crosshairs. He can see the general moving behind this fall of men. His condition is so bad. He’s wondering, “Will he be able to make the shot once he gets the chance?” I call it getting into my bubble.

 When I’m about to shoot, I just focus, lock everything  out. He’s following and following. And then the general steps clear for a split second. There’s no chance for Carlos to savor that moment of victory. Now he has a much more difficult task, and that is to escape from certain death at the hands of the NVA guards who are now alerted to his presence by the fact that he’s killed the general.

Carlos must crawl a thousand yards to reach the cover of the treeine. If he’s detected before reaching the jungle, he’ll be easy pickings for the NBA soldiers. Vietnamese guards are firing back indiscriminately all through the field, but a lucky shot could easily get him. He’s in a horribly desperate situation.

Carlos has one goal, and that’s to get to this tree line that he can see up ahead. And it’s painstaking going hand by hand by hand, foot by foot by foot, to a place where he can stand and actually run. Hours later, Carlos reaches the treeine that will provide him cover from the pursuing Vietnamese. But the crawl back has been even more exhausting than the crawl in.

 He finds he can barely stand up and he’s got a threemile race to the pickup point. And this is after spending 2 days in an almost entirely prone position. So his body has now got to find its rhythms again. Carlos wills his legs into motion and staggers through the thick jungle to his extraction point. The lone soldier on a daring mission now pursued by the enemy.

And he must now call on a reserve of physical strength that will get him to that waiting chopper. all in one minute. Jack everybody in over. Hathcock continues his work as the Marine Corps’s most deadly agent before his career is cut short by a landmine that demolishes his transport vehicle in 1969.

 But the severe burns he suffers leave him unable to shoot reliably. He becomes an instructor for other snipers. He helps to institutionalize the art of marksmanship and sniping. He’s become a legend, not just in the Marines, throughout all of the United States military. A distinction that would inspire others to become military snipers and the subject of many films.

 So Chris Kyle, one of the most decorated snipers of all time in American history, credits Carlos Hathcock for being his inspiration to become what he became. Also the inspiration for American Sniper. You have an individual who has an incredible skill where he is able to benefit the core that he’s working with. The memory of the Vietnam War for many years was put aside.

 Americans wanted to forget it, but America never forgot Carlos Hathcock. Farewell, my love. Today, Carlos’s legacy is remembered in the Hathcock Award, an award given for exceptional service not only in the military, but also among police officers. resting with the angels. They’ll carry me to you. His determination to sacrifice himself if need be to save the lives of his colleagues.

 All of these combined to leave behind the legend of the man who perhaps was America’s greatest sniper. Oh, I hear them sing. The angels will carry me.  Thanks for watching. If you’d like to help us produce more compelling historical content like this, please like, comment below, and share this video with fellow history buffs.

 And of course, be sure to subscribe to help keep history happening.