RIP: Legendary U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney

[Old No7]

It was many years after I'd read a book about the famous U.S. sniper "White Feather", aka Carlos Hathcock, that I'd heard of this man...

RIP sir -- Thank you for your service. Godspeed.

Old No7

Legendary U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney died at the age of 75 after an incredible life, both in the military and after. Mawhinney is famous for over 100 confirmed kills as a sniper in Vietnam. “I’m just a simple person, and in Vietnam, I was just doing my job.” Mawhinney once said. His famous quote represents just how humble he was. Mawhinney worked for the U.S. Forest Service after his time in the Marines, retiring after 27 years, and for most of his life, no one knew just how legendary he was.

The general public never would have known about Mawhinney if it weren't for one of his former spotters writing a memoir. Joseph Ward detailed his military exploits in the book, “Dear Mom: A Sniper’s Vietnam.” He ended up using the same rifle Mawhinney had, and in his book, he mentioned that Mawhinney had a whopping 101 confirmed kills.

Though Ward’s book didn’t initially sell very well, other authors and historians eventually stumbled across the book where they found out about Mawhinney’s record-smashing confirmed kills during the Vietnam War. Though it was later confirmed that the claim of 101 kills was low, that number was questioned because it exceeded the legendary Marine Scout Sniper Carlos Hathcock, who had 93 confirmed kills.

Jim Lindsay, author of “The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps' Greatest Marksman of All Time,” met Mawhinney in 1979 at the Idle Hour tavern in Baker City, Oregon. Lindsay said that people seemed to not believe Mawhinney, but he confirmed that he did, in fact, have 103 confirmed kills and 216 unconfirmed kills during his 16 months of duty in Vietnam. “Chuck's platoon leader had kept track of the kills. He had the kill sheets and verified Chuck’s numbers,” Lindsay said. “So, there was no argument then. His life changed overnight. All of a sudden, everybody knew him.”

When Mawhinney returned home from the Vietnam War, he saw how veterans were being treated and quietly left his military life behind him. He loved to hunt and trap, and that’s what he did when he wasn’t working. Lindsay said he never knew about Mawhinney’s military service until the media spread his story.

Mawhinney.jpg

[piller]

May GOD give him a special place to rest and relax. He has earned some forgiveness by his selflessness.

[Ysabel Kid]

May GOD give him a special place to rest and relax. He has earned some forgiveness by his selflessness.

Ageed!

[gamekeeper]

Rest in peace Marine.

[JDL]

I read that this morning and felt a sense of loss although I never met the man or even seen him. I knew about Hathcock years before I heard of Mawhanney as he kept a very low profile. Rest in Peace Sir!

[Pat C]

Sadly he chose to end his own life , so many veterans never get the help they deserve and try to hide what they are feeling inside ,even from family.

Sad end to an American Legend
Prayers for his family.

Rest in Peace

[Bill in Oregon]

If you know eastern Oregon -- Lakeview, where he grew up, and Baker City -- you realize what an ordinary Oregon kid can achieve with skill, dedication and discipline. I was put at ease by his post-Army career with the Forest Service. It had to be healing for him to be "working in the woods."
A little more detail here:
https://www.military.com/history/2024/0 ... .html?amp=

[Drawdown]

I salute him and Thank Lord for people like him! Read and studied everything I could find about him ever since he was revealed.