USMC sniper metes out swift death in Iraq

[deadparrot]

RAMADI, Iraq - He was 5 when he first fired an M-16, his father holding him to brace against the recoil. At 17 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, spurred by the memory of 9/11. Now, 21-year-old Galen Wilson has 20 confirmed kills in four months in Iraq — and another 40 shots that probably killed insurgents. One afternoon the lance corporal downed a man hauling a grenade launcher five-and-a-half football fields away.

Wilson is the designated marksman in a company of Marines based in downtown Ramadi, watching over what Marines call the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world.

Here, Sunni Arab insurgents are intent on toppling the local government protected by Marines.

Wilson, 5-foot-6 with a soft face, is married and has two children and speaks in a deep, steady monotone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_the_marksman

[JHH]

1. So this soldier see the person before he kills, unlike a bomber who

has no idea who he kills or if the "target" contains Woman or children?

[bowens43]

2. I think of anything more cowardly then being a sniper.

[Buzz Clik]

3. I certainly can...