Carlos Hathcock

Wrestling (Personal Picture)

Carlos Hathcock is my hero because he challenges me to push my body and mind to the limits of what it is capable of accomplishing; do what I think is impossible, and taught me what it means to be part of a team.

Carlos Hathcock

Carlos Hathcock, a Marine Corps sniper in the Vietnam War, once had a mission to eliminate a NVA (North Vietnamese Army) General. In order to do this he had to crawl on his stomach over 1000 meters. This task was done over 4 days and 3 nights, in open terrain, one inch at a time. He was bitten thousands of times by ants, yet remained hidden from enemy detection. At one point NVA soldiers almost stepped on him. They were so close that he could understand what they were saying. And they never even saw him. To put this in perspective it would be like crawling on your stomach over 10 football fields with 80 pounds of gear, getting bitten by ants, having many people looking for you, for 4 days with no food and minimal water, while evading capture. Most people can’t do one of these things at a time.

This amazing feat encourages to keep working hard when I’m at wrestling practice. It helps me push myself while running, to keep practicing, to keep good form while drilling, to stay on my diet, and to go as hard as I can during conditioning.

Carlos Hathcock also set a few records. He was a brilliant marksman. He qualified as an expert rifleman at boot camp. He also won the Wimbledon Cup, long range shootings most sought after award. His most outstanding accomplishment was when he hit a target at a distance of 2,500 yards. That’s over 1.4 miles. To make this shot he used a .50 caliber machine gun that had been converted to a single shot weapon. This record was broken recently by a Canadian sniper team, but that was with much more high-tech equipment than what Carlos had.

What Carlos did was considered impossible at the time, and today is still considered highly improbable and very difficult to accomplish. This exploit reminds me daily to strive for excellence in sports. Carlos had to train very hard, and be very patient and disciplined; this is what you have to do in sports in order to succeed.

Carlos, being a very effective sniper, had a very large bounty on his head, the equivalent of $30,000. Even with this large bounty an enemy combatant never seriously injured Carlos. Actually, the wounds that took him out of the Vietnam War were sustained from a 500-pound mine exploding under the AMTRAC (Amphibious Tractor) he was riding inside of. Amazingly, with 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 40 percent of his body he pulled seven fellow Marines from the destroyed vehicle. He was awarded the Silver Star for this action.

Hathcock undoubtedly saved his teammates lives. Even though wrestling is an individual sport since it's one-on-one; much like snipers; you still have a team that encourages you, trains you, and is there for you. Carlos taught me that to be part of a team you have to sacrifice things for the good of the team.

Carlos was a great man and a great American. I learned how to be a better wrestler by pushing myself, how to strive for the impossible, and how to be part of a team. Everybody has something to learn from him and many people have.