Silent Warrior: The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues by Henderson Charles

Author:Henderson, Charles [Henderson, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, War, Biography, thriller
ISBN: 9780786538485
Goodreads: 7591971
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Published: 2000-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

9

Eluding Charlie

LONG SHADOWS CLOAKED the western slopes of Hill 55, giving Carlos Hathcock what he considered an edge.

With the sun rising behind him, and the resulting shade cast by the mountain covering where he lay, the Marine sniper could easily see any movement in the valley or among the small knolls and hillocks beyond. Meanwhile, an adversary must struggle to see him, having to face the low-angle morning light and high-contrast darkness below it.

In the still air, he could hear dogs barking outside the huts at the edges of the rice fields. An old man coughed. Another spoke. The smell of burning wood drifted from the farmers’ homes as the people who lived there prepared breakfast before another day in the patchwork of rice fields below Hill 55.

Behind him, muffled voices and laughter came from the encampment of Marines who had also begun a new day. Music from radios carried down the slope to Hathcock’s ears. Farther back, the whistling, throaty growl of truck engines firing to life mixed with the thumping grind of helicopter blades turning. Their din began to mask the quieter sounds.

Slowly the shadow across the west side of Hill 55 crept away, leaving yellow light that warmed the day as flies swarmed the bushes. The heat dried the thin fog that had only moments earlier lay like sheer chiffon over the cool draws and dips beneath the shade.

Each day had begun the same for the past week that Jim Land had allowed Hathcock to work from the sandbag hide far below the sniper hooch. The captain thought that it kept the restless sergeant occupied while still providing him with relative safety from the enemy. In that time four more Marines had suffered wounds and another had died from the sniper fire that came almost daily now. Carlos held hope that one morning he might get lucky and see the guerrillas that had now claimed the lives of four Americans who had believed themselves safe behind the wire on Hill 55.

Throughout each day, Hathcock munched round crackers spread with cheese or peanut butter from a C ration can. He sipped water and watched and waited. Nothing moved except the unarmed farmers below him.

Jim Land had already packed and sent many of his personal belongings homeward. He had his orders to report to inspector-instructor staff duty with the Marine Corps reserves in the Boston area. Major D. E. Wight had just reported to 1st Marine Division, and now began his check-in process at headquarters on Hill 327, due west of Da Nang, and directly north of Hill 55. Soon, he would move south and join the snipers as their new officer in charge.

By noon, Carlos felt drowsy. He could see Lance Corporal Archer and the long line of his squad snaking its way home from a patrol that they began a morning ago. Surely, if an enemy sniper lurked nearby, he would have taken a shot by now at one of Archer’s crew, from 3rd platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines.

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