The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps' Greatest Marksman of All Time

by Jim Lindsay, Chuck Mawhinney (Foreword by)

Overview

Jim Lindsay's The Sniper reveals, for the first time ever, the full story of the deadliest sniper in Marine Corps history, Chuck Mawhinney, who served in the Vietnam war at age 18—written with his full cooperation and participation.

Charles "Chuck" Mawhinney is a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills (and the second most of any US service member in history), having recorded 103 confirmed kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War. He was also the youngest—killing the enemy as a teenager.

In 1967, at the age of 18, Mawhinney joined the Marines and began his assent from recruit to the Marine Corps’ deadliest sniper. During his tours—in one of the most dangerous war zones of Vietnam—his character and charisma helped him deal with life and death in a hell hole with other young men a long way from home.

After Vietnam, Mawhinney married and settled into his post-war life, raised a family, and was content that no one knew of his accomplishments in war. Then in 1991 he was startled and dismayed when outed by a fellow Marine sniper, Joseph Ward, who spoke of Mawhinney’s number of kills in his book, Dear Mom. Newspapers picked up the story and Mawhinney’s life changed forever. The notoriety troubled him at first, but then he accepted the fame and used the opportunity to train service men and lawmen in the art of long-distance shooting.

At last, Chuck's full story is told, including his heroic exploits in battle and the terrible toll that taking a life exerts on a human being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250852663
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/12/2024
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	74,485
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

JIM LINDSAY is a writer and farmer living in Corvallis, Oregon. He befriended Chuck Mawhinney while living in Oregon and knew he had to tell his story. After much research, including travelling to Vietnam, and many interviews, Jim wrote the narrative nonfiction account of Chuck's life: The Sniper.

Editorial Reviews

"Great sniper craft stories told with an insider's knowledge. The lessons learned and the stories told still apply to today's sniper." —Howard Wasdin, retired Navy SEAL Team Six sniper and New York Times bestselling author of SEAL Team Six

"An uncomfortable look behind the scope of one of the USMCs most accomplished but previously unknown snipers. Reading this book will send chills down your spine." —Brandon Webb, former Navy SEAL sniper course manager and New York Times bestselling author of The Red Circle

"As someone who has the honor of holding the title, Sniper, it's amazing and truly humbling to be able to finally hear the astonishing and gripping history of one of the most lethal snipers in US military history. Chuck's story and his remarkable success as a sniper will be discussed and studied for generations to come, as it should be. With 103 confirmed kills, Chuck is the deadliest sniper in Marine Corps history. A nearly impossible feat, only made possible by the most lethal man in Vietnam." —Nicholas Irving, U.S. Army special operations sniper and New York Times bestselling author of The Reaper and Ghost Target

"I feel Jim has done an excellent job of the book and telling my story. I’m just a simple person and in Vietnam I was just doing my job." —Chuck Mawhinney, Marine Corps sniper (ret.)

From the Publisher

2023-01-24
A by-the-numbers account of a Marine sniper’s years in combat during the Vietnam War.

With 103 confirmed kills, Chuck Mahwinney is “the US Marine Corps’ deadliest sniper.” Raised in rural Oregon and used to hunting rabbits and deer, he scored at the top of his boot camp class. Early on in his account of Mahwinney’s training, Lindsay telegraphs his main point: “Little did Chuck know that the rifle he held in his hands was a copy of the rifle he would use to outscore all marine snipers before and after that moment.” Mahwinney was thoroughly trained as a sniper before landing in Vietnam, where he was made a machine gunner, a thankless and statistically dangerous specialty. Finally talking himself into posts as a spotter and then a sniper, he did three tours, “averaging six kills a week” by the end of the first. Lindsay describes Mahwinney’s landing for home leave in San Francisco and being accosted by flower children calling him a “baby killer,” a trope that has no documented basis in fact (it comes from the Rambo film franchise). More believably, Mahwinney figures in a number of unpleasant but realistic combat scenes that end poorly for the people at the receiving end of his Remington: “A hole appeared in the man’s forehead as bloody brain matter burst from the back of his skull.” After rotating back to the civilian world, Mahwinney struggled with PTSD and self-medication while working as a forest ranger, his fame catching up to him via commerce, with a branded knife and special-edition rifle. Though it deals with a different war and a different era, Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead is a superior look inside the mind of a Marine sniper.

Of some interest to students of gun aficionados and those interested in the Vietnam War as it was fought on the ground.

Kirkus Reviews