(Patriot.Buzz) – Marking the sad loss of a true patriot, the most formidable sniper in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps has passed away quietly while avoiding the limelight.
Originally hailing from Lakeview, 75-year-old Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney died at his residence in Baker City, Oregon, as reported by the Baker City Herald.
Mawhinney’s remarkable journey began right after high school in 1967 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps and began his sniper training at Camp Pendleton, which led him to be deployed still in his teens to South Vietnam.
During his 16-month stint from 1968 to 1969, he achieved 103 confirmed kills and an additional 216 probable ones due to the perilous conditions of confirming enemy casualties in the midst of war.
Mawhinney’s exceptional skill allowed him to make confirmed kills from over 1,000 yards away, far surpassing the average sniper kill range of 300 to 800 yards during the Vietnam War.
Despite setting a record for the highest number of kills by a sniper in Marine Corps history, Mawhinney returned to civilian life in 1970, blended into the background and worked for the U.S. Forest Service with no pursuit of recognition for his military achievements.
His courage and precision earned him a Bronze Star with Combat Valor, a Navy Achievement Medal, a Navy Commendation Medal with Combat Valor and two Purple Hearts.
Before Mawhinney, Carlos Hathcock was the top Marine sniper until 1991 when Joseph T. Ward, one of Mawhinney’s spotters in Vietnam, published “Dear Mom: A Sniper’s Vietnam” and attributed the record to Mawhinney with 101 kills.
Initially, this revelation went unnoticed, including by Mawhinney himself but over time the acknowledgment of Mawhinney’s record began to circulate and challenged long-held beliefs within the sniper community.
Military historian Peter Senich later confirmed through Marine Corps archives that Mawhinney’s actual count was 103 kills, not 101.
After coming into the public eye, Mawhinney retired in 1997 and attended events nationwide with his wife Robin to share his experiences. His story was later detailed in Jim Lindsay’s book “The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps’ Greatest Marksman of All Time,” published in March 2023.
