Pfc Charles B. Mawhinney

[usmc4669]

by
Michal W. Wooten
USMC Scout-Sniper Charles Mawhinney and his spotter, 5th Marine Regiment, in Vietnam. Chuck Mawhinney had 103 confirmed enemy kills in Vietnam.

Over a 16 month period Pfc. Mawhinney would run up an incredible talley of 103 confirmed enemy killed with 216 "probables". To this day no other Marine has been able to match his number.

[catsmiler]

What ever happened to this Marine..?

[davblay]

Mawhinney, the son of a World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) Marine Corps veteran, was an avid hunter in his youth. Mawhinney joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967), spending sixteen months in Vietnam starting in 1968 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968). Although less well known than his more famous counterpart, fellow Marine sniper and legend (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend) Carlos Hathcock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock), Mawhinney currently holds the record for confirmed kills for Marine snipers, with 103. (A US Army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Army) sergeant, Adelbert Waldron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelbert_Waldron), holds the record for most confirmed kills by any American sniper at 109.) He had another 216 that are listed as "probables" by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Mawhinney left the Marine Corps in 1970 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970), after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Stress_Disorder). He slipped into obscurity, and went without notice for his number of confirmed kills for more than two decades, which was his preference. He returned home to Oregon, married, and began working for the U.S. Forest Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forest_Service), where he worked until his retirement in the late 1990s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s).
Mawhinney never spoke of his exploits as a sniper, and found himself exposed unwittingly in a book titled Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam, written by fellow Marine sniper and author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author) Joseph T. Ward (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_T._Ward&action=edit).<sup id="_ref-0" class="reference">[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Mawhinney#_note-0)</sup> After the book recognized him as having 101 confirmed kills, many disputed the claim. However, research revealed that Mawhinney actually had 103 confirmed kills and 216 "probable kills", which led to his replacing Carlos Hathcock, who had 93 confirmed kills, as the leading USMC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USMC) sniper of all time.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Chuck_Mawhinney%27s_sniper_rifle.jpg/180px-Chuck_Mawhinney%27s_sniper_rifle.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chuck_Mawhinney%27s_sniper_rifle.jpg) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chuck_Mawhinney%27s_sniper_rifle.jpg)
Mawhinney's rifle is on display in the National Museum of the Marine Corps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_Marine_Corps)


After this, Mawhinney slowly came into the limelight. Following his retirement from the Forest Service, he began speaking at conventions and public events, as well as attending national sniper shooting competitions. As of 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006), Mawhinney continues to speak to classes of professional snipers in training. His rifle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifle) that he used during his service in Vietnam is now on display in the Vietnam Gallery of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_Marine_Corps).

[jetdoc]

Good read, Mawhinney was the man. I have not read the book on hiim, but have read Carlos Hathcocks book, good read.

[SSgt Blue]

That is good S%$^

[SSgt Blue]

This Marine is what legends are made of, that is an amazing number of completed missions when you think about it. Dose anyone know how the Snipers in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region> are doing compared to the number of Kills in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nam</st1:country-region></st1:place>? I have heard that some snipers from Dark horse are coming up on those numbers. I personally have met a Marine sniper from Dark Horse that was shot in the face from another sniper. He is dating my neighbor’s niece. That Marine has some stories to tell, and to this day is still hard core. He just graduated LAPD academy.

[catsmiler]

Thanks for the info...I was on the USMC Rifle team in Hawaii, 1957-58 using the M-1 to 500 yds and the '03 at 600. Never saw combat, 1955-1959 was strictly Cold War stuff. I would have gone for sniper school had there been one at that time. There's something unrequited about a Gung Ho Marine that was never tested in combat. I feel like an unfinished Marine that wore the uniform but was never called to duty... Still, I'm proud to have belonged to the Corps and served my country in whatever capacity available at that time...Semper Fi and Happy 4th to all...

[catsmiler]

Sgt Blue:
I have read about some serious security lapses that have cost the lives of several three-man sniper teams, including 2 teams that were ambushed and killed together. As I understand the Marine sniper team configuration, you have the shooter, the spotter, and the security overlook that set up in a concealed position. If this position is semi-permanent, meaning being used by rotating teams, I would think the indigenious population would eventually get wind of the location and pass this info on to the bad guys. Or, and I know this happens from my police work, the team gets bored and concentration is lost. Still, its really hard to imagine how these highly trained teams could be taken down with no visible resistance, with all equipment captured...

[Ed Palmer]

Here is a man who joined the Marine corps when he was 7 years old

Do the math


catsmiler
Join Date: 07-02-07
Date of Birth: February 28, 1948
Age: 59

Last Activity: Today 11:37 AM

First Name:
Larry
Last Name:
Conners
Rank:
E-3
Do you own a business?:
No
Where did you attend bootcamp?:
MCRD San Diego
What date did you graduate bootcamp?:
1955
What was your bootcamp platoon number?:
unknown
Duty Stations:
Camp Pendleton
NAS Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii
Year Entered Marine corps:
1955
Year Exited Marine Corps:
1959
Favorite Duty Station:
Barbers Point
Favorite Marine:
Gunnery Sgt Stonebocker
Combat History:
none
Military Biography:
weapons instructor
Current City:

[catsmiler]

I caught the error yesterday and changed the date to 1938...I was celebrating VJ day and VE day when I was 7 years old..!!

Larry

[SSgt Blue]

I know what you are talking about catsmiler and there is still a lot of talk about that. I can only guess what happened because I was not there, either way Marines were killed and that is a sad day for all. The Marine I was talking about was shot while in a hide out by another sniper. I guess that is why they are called HOG’s.