Comments on: Why we fear and admire the military sniper

By: Toddy Cat

Toddy Cat — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:43:43 +0000

“Leading an attack on a machine gun nest is just about the opposite of sniping”

True, but York was a dead shot, and was also celebrated for “picking off” a large number of Germans through his marksmanship. Being an excellent marksman has always been a point of pride with Americans (Boone, Crockett, and Kit Carson come immediately to mind) and I’m not sure that the prejudice against snipers was ever very strong in the U.S.

When I was in school, I was taught that we won the Revolutionary War and the Battle of New Orleans by hiding behind trees and picking off the British soldiers marching in ranks and firing in volleys. This was regarded as showing how much smarter we were, and how much better we understood modern warfare.

By: Bob Sykes

Bob Sykes — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 13:02:43 +0000

TrackingPoint is now making a .338, which is good out to 1 mile. Now anyone (literally) can be a sniper. It’s expensive ($10,000), but if there’s someone you just have to kill, it’s doable.

By: Victor

Victor — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 20:30:15 +0000

In FPS games, “campers” are reviled by other players.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 18:56:06 +0000

Leading an attack on a machine gun nest is just about the opposite of sniping.

By: Toddy Cat

Toddy Cat — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 18:16:05 +0000

Sgt. York killed a lot of Germans in WWI through what was essentially sniping, and I can’t recall that he was reviled by the American public.