Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney, the deadliest sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps, has died. He continued to evade recognition for his murder record for nearly 20 years until he was outed on the books.
Mawhinney died on February 12 at his home in Baker City, Oregon. baker city herald report.
He was 75 years old.
Born in Lakeview, Oregon, Mawhinney began his legendary career in 1967 after graduating from high school, joining the U.S. Marine Corps to fight in Vietnam that same year.
Upon joining the branch, he attended Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendleton and, after graduating in April 1968, received orders to South Vietnam for a 16-month rotation. american marines.
Between 1968 and 1969, while still a teenager, Mawhinney was confirmed to have killed 103 people.
A further 216 kills were listed as “probable” due to the dangers of identifying enemy bodies in combat zones.
Mawhinney had confirmed kills at distances in excess of 1,000 yards, and the average kill distance for snipers during the Vietnam War was between 300 and 800 yards.
He received the Bronze Star Medal for Combat Valor, the Naval Achievement Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal for Combat Valor, and two Purple Hearts.
Despite having the most kills of any sniper in the branch’s history, Mawhinney returned home in 1970 and returned to his daily life unnoticed, taking a job with the U.S. Forest Service. was secured.
For years, this was the belief of a legendary fellow Marine. carlos hathcock He holds the record for most kills as a sniper with 93 and still holds the record for longest kill at 2,500 yards.
It wasn’t until 1991 that Joseph T. Ward, one of Mawhinney’s observers in Vietnam, wrote the following book:Dear Mom: Sniper’s Vietnam”, citing his 101 kills and confirming him as the record holder.
At first, many people, including Mawhinney, didn’t know about the book.
However, over the next few years, rumors slowly began to spread that Mawhinney was credited with the most confirmed sniper kill in Marine Corps history.
The incident caused controversy among members of the sniper community who still believed Hathcock held the record.
Peter Senich, a military historian and author specializing in snipers and small arms, went to verify Ward’s claims in the Marine Corps archives and discovered he was wrong. Mawhinney had 103 kills instead of 101.
Although Mawhinney valued his privacy and did not seek fame for his actions in Vietnam, he did agree to an interview with Senich in 1997. Baker City Herald.
“This is an opportunity for me to bring some recognition to a lot of Vietnam veterans who didn’t have any recognition,” Mawhinney said.
“We’ve all been there together. If you need recognition for that, that’s okay, because whenever you talk to someone, you can talk about veterinarians and how great they are.” It gave me an opportunity to talk about whether I had done my job.”
After his interviews and newfound fame among military personnel, Mawhinney retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 1997 and began attending events across the United States with his wife, Robin.
The legendary sniper spoke about his life in March 2023 to author Jim Lindsay, who wrote the book The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Greatest Marksman in Marine Corps History.
“He was a good man,” Lindsey said in an interview with The Oregonian on Wednesday, adding that Mawhinney never emphasized his killing and “did what he was trained to do.”
“He was a good father, a good husband and an asset to the community. He was a very cool cat.”
Mawhinney is survived by his wife and three children.
