Top 5 Deadliest American Snipers

Carlos Norman Hathcock II (20 May 1942 – 22 February 1999) was a United States Marine Corps sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills.
Hathcock’s record and the extraordinary details of the missions he
undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps. His fame as a sniper
and his dedication to long-distance shooting led him to become a major
developer of the United States Marine Corps Sniper training program. He
was honored by having a rifle named after him: a variant of the M21
dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather, for the nickname “White
Feather” given to Hathcock by the NVA.

Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney (born 1949) is an Oregon-born
American who served in the United States Marine Corps as a sniper during
the Vietnam War. He holds the record for the most confirmed kills by a
USMC sniper, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 “probable
kills” in his 16 months of action.

Adelbert F. “Bert” Waldron III, (March 14, 1933 – October 18, 1995)
was a United States Army sniper who served during the Vietnam War with
the 9th Infantry Division. Although little known, until 2011 Waldron
held the record for confirmed kills by any American sniper in history at
109. Although U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle later
acquired more confirmed kills, Waldron worked in a jungle environment
where target opportunities were less commonplace, whereas Kyle worked in
a target-rich urban environment where the rules of engagement were more
lax.

While not ranked high in terms of number of confirmed kills, Master
Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart are notable
for their heroic action while assigned to a Delta Force Sniper Team
during the events of  Operation Gothic Serpent, a joint-force
assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed
Farrah Aidid.  An operation made famous by the book and movie “Black
Hawk Down”.  After Blackhawk Super Six Four had been shot down by
Aidid’s militia, Gordon and Shughart extracted the pilot, Chief Warrant
Officer Mike Durant, Bill Cleveland, Ray Frank, and Tommy Field from the
aircraft, and established defensive positions around the crash site.
Despite having inflicted heavy casualties against the Somalis, the two
Delta snipers were too outnumbered and outgunned. Their ammunition
nearly depleted, Gordon and Shughart were killed by Somali gunfire. It
is believed that Gordon was first to be killed. His teammate Shughart
retrieved Gordon’s CAR-15 and gave it to Durant to use. Shortly after,
Shughart was killed and pilot Durant was taken alive.

Concerning Shughart and Gordan, Durant made the comment “Without a
doubt, I owe my life to these two men and their bravery…Those guys
came in when they had to know it was a losing battle, There was nobody
else left to back them up. If they had not come in, I wouldn’t have
survived.” For their bravery and actions beyond the call of duty, the
United States government awarded both Shugart and Gordon the Medal of
Honor, the only snipers to have ever received the MOH.

Christopher Scott “Chris” Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was
a United States Navy SEAL proclaimed to be the most lethal sniper in
U.S. military history, having accumulated 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable kills.
These numbers are based on individual shooter logs, filled out at the
end of a mission, and reported to higher command. Confirmed kills must
have a witness.

Kyle served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several
commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He
received two Silver Star Medals, five Bronze Star Medals, one Navy and
Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and two Navy and Marine Corps
Achievement Medals. Iraqi insurgents dubbed him the “Devil of Ramadi”
and placed a series of ever increasing bounties on his head, purported
to have eventually reached the low six figures. He became known by the
moniker “Legend” among the general infantry and Marines whom he was
tasked to protect. This title initially originated in jest among fellow
SEALs following his taking of a sabbatical to train other snipers
in Fallujah. He was wounded twice and involved in six IED attacks.

Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009 and wrote a
bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, which was published in
January 2012. On February 2, 2013, Kyle was shot and killed at a
shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas, along with friend Chad
Littlefield. The man accused of killing them is awaiting trial for
murder. A film adaptation of Kyle’s autobiography, directed by Clint
Eastwood, was released in December 2014.

 

While not American, Simo deserves honorable mention on this list.
 Simo “Simuna” Häyhä  (December 17, 1905 – April 1, 2002), nicknamed
“White Death” by the Red Army, was a Finnish marksman. Using a Finnish
version of the Mosin–Nagant in the Winter War, he acquired the highest
recorded number, in any major war of at least 505 confirmed sniper kills.