Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 17:11:36 -0700
From: jeb@BBZ.NET (John Briggs)
Subject: Hathcock sniping record falls?
To: AZRKBA@asu.edu

 From the Opinion Journal's Best of the Web ( http://OpinionJournal.com ):

Two Cheers for
Canada
http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=%7BC4FCB24B-32B6-43B8-9381-DD1F33F00CFA%7D


"Canadian snipers are being credited with more than 20 kills in
Afghanistan, including one from 2,400 metres away--almost a mile and a
half," the National Post reports. "If validated, the kill would be the
longest shot made by a military sniper in combat, according to the latest
issue of  Soldier of Fortune (
http://www.sofmag.com/story1.html)  magazine." But the newspaper's article
adds this:

*** QUOTE ***

Retired Canadian colonel Brian MacDonald said there appeared to be a
reluctance in the Canadian Forces to acknowledge the fact that the
country's soldiers do kill the enemy from time to time. "The Defence
Department doesn't want to embarrass the government with the facts that
deaths do take place," he added.

*** END QUOTE ***



More from the referenced National Journal article, discussing the SOF
story: [JEB]

"The magazine, known for its war-zone reporting, also said there were
unconfirmed, but widely circulated reports, of a "2,400-metre kill [chest
shot] against the driver of an enemy resupply truck" by a Canadian using a
.50 BMG McMillan Long Range Sniper Weapon (LRSW).

"It said the record for the longest shot by a military sniper in action was
2,250 metres by gunnery Sgt. Carlos Hathcock, USMC, near Duc Pho, South
Vietnam, in 1967 with a Browning .50 HMG mounting an eight-power Unertl
telescopic sight."

--

   John E. Briggs
   jeb@bbz.net Phoenix, Arizona, USA

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to
visit violence on those who would do us harm." - George Orwell