May 20th marks the births of two great Americans. Both were United States Marines. Both trained and taught hundreds if not thousands. Both changed shooting forever.
Lieutenant Colonel John Dean "Jeff" Cooper 94 (1920-2006)
And
Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Norman "White Feather" Hathcock II 72 (1942-1999)
On May 20th, 1959, at 17 years of age, Carlos N. Hathcock II fulfilled his childhood dream by enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. His ability as a marksman was soon recognized by the instructors on the rifle range at Camp Pendleton where he was undergoing recruit training. Later, while based in Hawaii as a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Carlos won the Pacific Division rifle championship. Following his assignment in Hawaii, Hathcock was transferred to Marine Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he quickly found himself shooting competitively again. This time he set the Marine Corps record on the "A" Course with a score of 248 points out of a possible 250, a record that stands today. The highlight of his competitive shooting career occurred in 1965 when Carlos out-shot over 3000 other servicemen competing to win the coveted Wimbledon Cup at Camp Perry. This achievement led to his being sought out in Vietnam in 1966 to be part of a newly established sniper program. After his training was completed Carlos began his new assignment. Operating from Hill 55, a position 35 miles South-West of Da Nang, Hathcock and his fellow Marine snipers renewed a Marine tactic which had been born in the islands of the Pacific in World War II. Within a short period of time the effects of the Marine snipers could be felt around Hill 55. Carlos rapidly ran up a toll on the enemy that would eventually lead to a bounty being placed on his head by the NVA.As a result of his skill Sergeant Hathcock was twice recruited for covert assignments. One of the them was to kill a Frenchman who was working for the North Vietnamese as an interrogator. This individual was torturing American airmen who had been shot down and captured. One round from Carlos' modified Winchester Model 70 ended the Frenchman's career. On another occasion Sergeant Hathcock accepted an assignment for which he was plainly told that his odds for survival were slim. A North Vietnamese general was the target, and the man died when a bullet fired by Carlos struck him from a range of 800 yards. Hathcock returned to Hill 55 unscathed. In one incredible incident an enemy sniper was killed after a prolonged game of "cat and mouse" between Carlos, with his spotter, and the NVA sniper. The fatal round, fired at 500 yards by Hathcock, passed directly through the NVA sniper's rifle scope, striking him in the eye. Hathcock would eventually be credited with 93 enemy confirmed killed, including one Viet Cong shot dead by a round fired from a scope-mounted Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine gun at the unbelievable range of 2500 yards. In 1969, during his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Carlos was badly burned while rescuing fellow Marines from a burning Amtrack. The other Marines and Carlos had been riding in the vehicle when it ran over an anti-tank mine. Despite the severity of his wounds it would ultimately be the ravages of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that would bring Hathcock's extraordinary career to an end. In 1979 he was made to retire on 100% disability due to the advancing stages of the disease. Gunnery Sergeant Hathcock has spent subsequent years instructing police tactical units in "counter-sniper" techniques. In 1990 a book entitled Marine Sniper, by Charles Henderson, was published, documenting the exploits of this one-of-a-kind Marine. Toward the end of his life he attempted to get to the police rifle range as often as possible. He still loved the crack of the rifles, the smell of gun powder as it drifts across the range, and the company of good men striving to be the best at what they do. The indomitable Carlos N. Hathcock II was indeed one of the "Few and Proud." Carlos Hathcock died on February 23rd, 1999, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, from complications resulting from MS.
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Jeff Cooper was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1920. He was educated at Stanford University and took his advanced degree from the University of California. He was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1941 and served throughout World War II in the Pacific, achieving the rank of Major. Recalled to active duty for the Korean War, he moved up one rank to Lieutenant Colonel before leaving the service.
Cooper became a shooter at the age of eleven. In 1958 he originated the sport of practical pistol competition. From this activity he formulated the Modern Technique of the Pistol, now generally observed throughout the world. For the next thirty years he was active in teaching the new method throughout the Western World.
In 1976 Jeff Cooper founded the International Practical Shooting Confederation. In 1977 he founded the American Pistol Institute at Gunsite in Arizona, where he lived until his death in 2006.
He served as editor-at-large of Guns and Ammo magazine, for which he wrote a monthly column. After having served many years as a director of the National Rifle Association of America, he was elected to the Executive Council.
Jeff Cooper spent a long and active life reading, shooting, hunting, fighting and teaching. Internationally respected as the "Gunner's Guru," Jeff Cooper is a philosopher, moralist, and political commentator -- a true modern Renaissance man. It is to the benefit of his many readers that he developed the passion at an early age to write it all down.
To distinguish between the two schools, graduates of the American Pistol Institute as it was owned by Jeff Cooper pre-1992 refer to this institution as "Orange Gunsite" and to the subsequent operation post-1992 as "Grey Gunsite". This is because when the school was sold by Jeff Cooper, the color scheme was changed from the original color of orange to grey
I met Col. Cooper in San Antonio, Texas in 1985 during a Combat Arms Instructor course that he taught half of. He was a very down to earth, no nonsense guy. You could tell he believed in what he taught. I consider myself a graduate of orange Gunsite. After several weeks of training we were now able to teach. That short time influenced my entire life. I taught my family and others through this training. Col. Jeff Cooper has, and continues to have, a great impact on shooting, and shooting training for generations to come.
I hold these two men in great high respect and regard because of their dedication to what they knew, but also to the dedication of training and sharing what they learned with the world. It’s ironic that they have the same birthday!
Semper Paratus
Burn
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