Vietnam Marine Snipers
Marine Corps scout-snipers and the men who defined the craft in Vietnam
6 booksCarlos Hathcock and Chuck Mawhinney were the two greatest Marine snipers of the Vietnam War — operating in I Corps with kill records that became legend. This collection covers their stories and the broader tradition of Marine Corps sniping in Vietnam, from firsthand memoirs to multi-war anthologies.
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills
Charles Henderson
1986
The legendary memoir of Carlos Hathcock, Marine sniper with 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. One of the great warrior stories in American military history — honest about the weight of the work and the quality of the man who carried it.
Silent Warrior: The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues
Charles Henderson
1997
Henderson's follow-up to Marine Sniper — deeper into Hathcock's legend, the operations he supported as a recon sniper, and the toll of a life lived behind the scope.
The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps' Greatest Marksman of All Time
Jim Lindsay
2022
The full story of Chuck Mawhinney — 103 confirmed kills in 16 months, the Marine Corps' deadliest sniper, whose record went untold for decades. Lindsay draws on Mawhinney's own account to tell it right.
Dead Center: A Marine Sniper's Two-Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War
Ed Kugler
1999
Kugler's firsthand account of two years as a Marine scout-sniper — the patience, the isolation, and the precision required to operate alone in enemy territory. One of the most operationally specific sniper memoirs from Vietnam.
Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam
Joseph T. Ward
1991
Ward's memoir of service as a Marine Scout Sniper in Vietnam — written in the form of letters home, with a directness and emotional honesty that sets it apart from most Vietnam sniper accounts.
One Shot One Kill
Charles W. Sasser & Craig Roberts
1990
Sasser and Roberts compile first-person accounts from American combat snipers across four conflicts — WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Beirut. Roberts himself was a Marine sniper in Vietnam. One of the classic multi-era sniper anthologies.