86 Year Old WWII Veteran Sniper Is Still Lethal

[tomson75]

NYC...Dude, you have some serious issues...

Maybe if you write Jobs a nice letter he'll give you your life back.

 

[Hostile]

NYC...Dude, you have some serious issues...

Maybe if you write Jobs a nice letter he'll give you your life back.

Kinda sucks that stuff got added to a cool thread.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Kinda sucks that stuff got added to a cool thread.

 

[zrinkill]

Kinda sucks that stuff got added to a cool thread.

Yup ....

 

[5Stars]

http://img707.*************/i/sniperhog.jpg/


Above is a picture of the little necklace I was talking about.

I tried to use the little 'insert image' button, but I don't know how it works and all that shows up is the dreaded little red X

 

[Hostile]

The thread was a about genuine heroes getting honored. I wish you hadn't made it a joke thread. I'm not trying to offend. I just didn't like that. I think that WWII vet deserved better than you gave.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

In sniper school, when you first get in, your are known as a P.I.G. (i cannot remember what that stands for so maybe Google is might tell us).

But, basically what it meant is, when you first get to school, they give you a necklace made of a single strand of leather (a little leather rope) with a plastic bullet with a hole drilled into it to put the leather strand through so you could wear it around your neck as a necklace. You are now a P.I.G.

One shot, one kill...

After sniper school...

When snipers get into combat, to become a H.O.G...they must kill a combatant, get to him, check him out for info, then take one REAL bullet from the combatants rifle...that bullet was meant for the sniper! Kill, or be killed...

He now takes that one bullet meant for him, takes it from the casing, drills a hole in it and replaces the plastic bullet from when he became a P.I.G.

You are now know as a H.O.G.

Not sure where you got this info, but it's not exactly correct. Actually, it sounds like a scene from a cheesy movie.

If you'd like to read a decent account on what it's like to be a modern Marine sniper, pick-up "HOGs In The Shadows" by Milo S. Afong.

Here's an excerpt:

Because a marine has no training as a sniper, during indoctrination he is known as a SLUG, an acronym for Slow, Lazy Untrained Gunman. The time spent as a SLUG is overwhelming for many, and those who fail an indoc carry the name back to their platoons. Those who are selected to join a scout/sniper platoon are given another name —PIG.

Once in a scout/sniper platoon, the marine receives the honorable name of PIG, meaning Professionally Instructed Gunman. The name explains that the marine is worthy to receive the training to become a sniper. Being a new PIG is probably the worst time physically and mentally for a potential sniper, because he has an enormous amount of information and tactics to absorb and will probably learn most of it through pain and repetition. Every marine who becomes part of the scout/sniper platoon has spent time as a PIG, but in the sniper community, he is not yet considered to be a marine scout/sniper. Although there are PIGs with more experience and knowledge about sniping than some school-trained snipers, every PIG aspires to become a HOG.

A HOG is a Hunter of Gunmen and is the only one of the three designations to be considered a marine scout/sniper. To become a HOG, a PIG must attend and pass a marine division scout/sniper school, and for verification, the school keeps a record of every class and marine who has passed. Marine scout/sniper school is so difficult that it's not uncommon for a marine to keep the title PIG his entire time in a platoon, because he may never pass the school or may never have the opportunity to attend one. Once a PIG graduates scout/sniper school he receives the title of HOG and the current military occupation specialty of 0317, which is the only designator for scout/snipers. (The previous MOS was 8541.) He also receives a 7.62 mm bullet as a necklace. This bullet is known as a HOG's tooth and is to always be on the sniper. It is a charm, meaning that it is the only bullet meant for that marine, and in combat, no other sniper will have a bullet for him. The new HOGs will operate in the battalion as the snipers and spotters.

Semper Fi

 

[arglebargle]

The movie 'Enemy at the Gates' was a highly fictionalized version of the true story of the top German and Russian snipers in Stalingrad stalking one another for months. I have the book hidden away in a box somewhere, or I'd list it.

And the opening River Crossing sequence in that film is about as powerful as that of the D Day landing in Saving Private Ryan.

Just ran across my NRA Jr. Sharpshooter badge, which made me appreciate this story even more.

 

[5Stars]

Not sure where you got this info, but it's not exactly correct. Actually, it sounds like a scene from a cheesy movie.

If you'd like to read a decent account on what it's like to be a modern Marine sniper, pick-up "HOGs In The Shadows" by Milo S. Afong.

Here's an excerpt:


Semper Fi

You basically said the same thing that I said. And, no...what I told was not from some cheesy movie. It's an actuall fact of TODAY'S snipers. I wish there were some other way to prove it to you...but, getting to become a HOG in today's world, with the war in Iraq and Afganistan, what I wrote is true...

When I was in Vietnam in 1968, there is a Marine sniper name Carlos Hathcock...he was know as "White Feather" because he wore a white feather in his helmet. The NVA were so frigntened of him that they actually put some ridiculous bounty on him that whoever killed him would be taken care of for life. There is also has a book out about him...look it up on google.

Traditions from the past have changed for the now...you can believe me, or not.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

You basically said the same thing that I said. And, no...what I told was not from some cheesy movie. It's an actuall fact of TODAY'S snipers. I wish there were some other way to prove it to you...but, getting to become a HOG in today's world, with the war in Iraq and Afganistan, what I wrote is true...

When I was in Vietnam in 1968, there is a Marine sniper name Carlos Hathcock...he was know as "White Feather" because he wore a white feather in his helmet. The NVA were so frigntened of him that they actually put some ridiculous bounty on him that whoever killed him would be taken care of for life. There is also has a book out about him...look it up on google.

Traditions from the past have changed for the now...you can believe me, or not.

I'm well aware of who he was. Don't believe everything you're "told".

Yea, and um no offense...but about the "you can believe me, or not." part.

Aren't you the same guy who spun the yarn about the magical pool chemical that turns the water blue, and your days as an apartment complex maintenance man?

 

[5Stars]

I'm well aware of who he was. Don't believe everything you're "told".

Yea, and um no offense...but about the "you can believe me, or not." part.

Aren't you the same guy who spun the yarn about the magical pool chemical that turns the water blue, and your days as an apartment complex maintenance man?

:beer2:

Your'e still mad over that? Dude, I was just messing around...sorry I made you mad.

 

[Hoofbite]

I love that shot of the dude in the street sitting in that picnic chair.

That's so awesome.

Pretty sure I saw that on TV and the dude was just stunned and all he could say was "great shot".

 

[YosemiteSam]

The thread was a about genuine heroes getting honored. I wish you hadn't made it a joke thread. I'm not trying to offend. I just didn't like that. I think that WWII vet deserved better than you gave.

If you are questioning honor then you are questioning the wrong person. We are more alike that you know, yet far different.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Your'e still mad over that? Dude, I was just messing around...sorry I made you mad.

"just messing around"...really, that's what you call it!?

'Cus that was a REALLY elaborate story you told, and you were dang sure adamant about it being fact when I called BS on it!

 

[CanuckCowboysFan]

Theres a sniper here in Canada that can hit a toonie from two miles away. He is generally regarded as the best sniper in the world. I'll try and find out his name.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Theres a sniper here in Canada that can hit a toonie from two miles away.

Impossible! Not only is that distance unattainable, hitting something that diameter would be just a fluke.

The longest sniper shot on record is 2.47 km.

 

[arglebargle]

Impossible! Not only is that distance unattainable, hitting something that diameter would be just a fluke.

The longest sniper shot on record is 2.47 km.

Maybe it was a Car-toonie?

 

[Hostile]

Theres a sniper here in Canada that can hit a toonie from two miles away. He is generally regarded as the best sniper in the world. I'll try and find out his name.

It was probably Robert Furlong and it was 1.5 miles I believe.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I just watched a show about snipers on the history channel over the weekend.

One segment was about a kill in Iraq, and one was about a kill in Nam.

Both were unbelievable.

There are three or four good shows on snipers running around on HC and MC. The Military Channel one on Afghanistan is by far the best I think. They try to replicate what was, at the time, the longest kill shot by the Canadian sniper. He was shooting down into a valley with 3 crosswinds on a cold day using an American built .50 cal bolt action rifle, with American made ammunition.

The first shot missed the middle guy of three, the second shot clipped his backpack, the third shot hit. Since they were over 700 meters away, the bullet passing by was subsonic, and it sounds like a bug buzzing by. He had the target in the bottom left corner of the scope, well off of the reticle, and beyond the mil marks. Bottomline, he was maxed out as far as he could be, shooting against wind and the Earth's rotation. He even said his own military's ammo wasn't hot enough to make the shot, but the American's, well we load ours with a little extra punch.

The interviewer mentioned that they didn't check to see if the hit was a kill? Sniper said that with the kinetic energy carried by a bullet that weighs over an ounce and half, all you have to do is hit the body. The soft tissue trauma is so great that he'll bleed out before they can get him any real medical attention.

Anyway, they try to replicate the distance of the shot in a brushy scrub area somewhere in the US. They couldn't even see where the bullet was hitting the sand it was so far away. They tried a couple of shots, but the spotter couldn't see jack crap, and the shooter couldn't figure out where the bullet was going either.

IIRC, the Englishman who has the longest confirmed kill did so early in the morning, on a flat elevation, shooting along a road that ran the edge of a valley.

It would seem that you'd need the perfect environmental conditions and could be helped by shooting east/west to avoid any Coriolis effect. You line all of that up with Lord knows how many hundreds of hours of training and given ability, and you too might hit something miles away.

 

[the kid 05]

It was probably Robert Furlong and it was 1.5 miles I believe.

the only Canuck who we can't make fun of :laugh2: he'd pop our heads off with out crossing the boarder