13 Cent Killers: The 5th Marine Snipers in Vietnam

by John J. Culbertson

“It’s not easy to stay alive with a $1,000 bounty on your head.”

In 1967, a bullet cost thirteen cents, and no one gave Uncle Sam a bigger bang for his buck than the 5th Marine Regiment Sniper Platoon. So feared were these lethal marksmen that the Viet Cong offered huge rewards for killing them. Now noted Vietnam author John J. Culbertson, a former 5th Marine sniper himself, presents the riveting true stories of young Americans who fought with bolt rifles and bounties on their heads during the fiercest combat of the war, from 1967 through the desperate Tet battle for Hue in early ’68.

In spotter/shooter pairs, sniper teams accompanied battle-hardened Marine rifle companies like the 2/5 on patrols and combat missions. Whether fighting their way out of a Viet Cong “kill zone” or battling superior numbers of NVA crack troops, the sniper teams were at the cutting edge in the art of jungle warfare, showing the patience, stealth, combat marksmanship, and raw courage that made the unit the most decorated regimental sniper platoon in the Vietnam War. Harrowing and unforgettable, these accounts pay tribute to the heroes who made the greatest sacrifice of all–and leave no doubt that among 5th Marine snipers uncommon valor was truly a common virtue.


From the Paperback edition.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Military History, War, Biography

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is a "B-list" war book, meaning that it's not terrible C-quality slop but it falls short of being one of those amazing A-list books like Stalingrad or The Fall of Berlin or Lone Survivor. I mean, if you just look at the cover of this book, it doesn't have the absolute 'finesse' quality of the big-5 publishers; it's merely a competent design that somehow doesn't seem quite Barnes & Noble display quality. so, actually--judge the book by the cover.

overall Culbertson displays competence and even-handedness in his work, with the exception pointed out above by 'Armen,' in this one scene where he imagines a Ho Chi Minh conversation and expects us to believe that he was present there. aside from this one weakness, overall there was little exaggeration, not too much 'long lists of names' problem, little or no irrelevancy, and he avoided some flaws such as over-speculation, white-washing, too aggressive service-rivalry these sorts of things.

the problem was not so much what was written as what we missed out on--Culbertson missed the opportunity to compare a sniper's task to serial killing. as most infantry soldiers agree, a sniper is a distinct psychological type; they don't operate in groups; they spend long hours or even days waiting for a kill; they kill a specific high-value individual, and then they flee. I believe Pentagon studies have shown that psychopaths aren't actually well suited for this work, but a sniper during wartime is clearly special. what thoughts are going through the sniper's head as he waits seven hours in his hide? where are the childhood memories that surface? what odd realizations do we make other than "vietnamese snipers used grenade traps to disguise their work, american snipers were very focused on the numbers of their kill, preferably long-distance" ? john krakauer probably could have elicited another three chapters.

(the characters that run through this book do not seem to have distinct "good guy / bad guy" personalities, which, of course, sounds like a unfair complaint to make about a war book, but i guess readers in the end want drama more than want to know the exact weight of a match grade cartridge.)

if you are obsessed with reading war books, or just need a book to cover a two hour train ride, 13 Cent Killers is worth a look. but, it cannot be recommended for non war-readers in general.

[Skylore Kleppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I'm still reading this book I have put it off for many years. This book has my Grandfather in it, he was a 5th marine scout sniper. I am currently striving to become a Scout Sniper, as I am enlisted as an Infantry men in the US Marine Corps. I plan to serve my country proud and to make my Grandfather proud as he died of Melanoma in january of 2007. I didn't get to talk to him about joining the Marines, which breaks my heart for I had many questions to ask him. I was turning 11 when he past and for 7 years it made me want to join even more. Ever sense i was old enough to say Marine, I wanted to be one. I'm 18 years old and taking my dream by the hand. Oo-rah and Semper Fidelis to all current Marines and other members of the US armed forces, stay safe and thank you for your time.

[Mitchell Parish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine yourself being in a jungle; surrounded by people who are trying to kill you. You have to survive with nothing but your comrades and your rifle. The young men that fought in the fifth sniper division in Vietnam must have been terrified. The Vietnam War was one of the first wars to use snipers in the way that it did. Snipers were used as “combat Multipliers” to not only kill enemies, but to strike fear into their hearts. The men were paired with a rifle division and were sent out on nightly patrols and watch duties.
The main Characters are Ron Willoughby, Tom Casey, Vernon D. Mitchell, and many other marine snipers. They are all in the fifth marine sniper division in the Vietnam War. The book goes over many accounts of their near death experiences and their combat missions. It is amazing to learn about what kinds of things these men had to go through. You will have to read the book to find out about all of them. The theme is that sometimes in life we go through struggles but we have to be brave to fight through them, not only for ourselves but also for our friends and, in the case of the marines, brothers.
I wanted to read this book because I have always been interested in marine snipers. My brother was in the army as well as my grandfather so I feel a connection there. I would recommend this book to a very select crowd. The book can get extremely graphic at times, as one could imagine. In addition, there is quite a bit of profanity used. Therefore, I would not recommend this book to anyone with a week stomach or that does not like profanity. That being said, anyone who has interest in the marines or the Vietnam War would love this book. It really shows how a war is without any censorship. This book is defiantly for a more mature audience.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

Culbertson writes about some great guys who did some great things, but in the process of doing so he ends up writing a terrible book. It's full of contradictions, incredibly repetitive. The prose is heavy-handed and clunky. I was miserable every second I spent reading this book. He spends a lot of time talking about the cowardice of those protesting the war, but he also spends time talking about how wrong the war was and how Marines were misused for the sake of the government and corporations. He talks about how unreliable the M-16 was and then on the next page he's running around with his M-14 yelling "bang, bang!" because it's dirty and jammed. He has a weird page talking about the bravery of some over-the-hill Hollywood personality who performed despite not being at her best. But for someone who is clearly trying not to be mean, he gets pretty mean. Seconds later he airs his grievances that the media would go on to cover her death with more fervor than they covered the deaths of Marines in Vietnam. It's an understandable thing for him to have an issue with, but he handles it poorly. He reintroduces the same people over and over and gushes about them endlessly. Granted, these are great warriors worthy of high praise but at some point it gets to be obnoxious and self-serving.

BTW I know the writing in this review is pretty bad because it is an outpouring of frustration. That's exactly like his book, except his book should have had editors and a process ironing out the kinks or asking for a rewrite.

[Penecks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this Vietnam era paperback and was expecting a mediocre gung ho experience, a mostly fast food type of history that was at least moderately factual. While this is indeed that type of book, 13 Cent Killers runs into major problems that quickly wrangle at even this lenient proposition.

There are some things the book does well, and it feels appropriate to list them first. Culbertson's narrative takes the form of stories from men in a sniper unit which worked with his marine regiment in a Vietcong occupied area southwest of the DMZ. The restated stories are at least generally believable, with detailed location names and inventory of men and units. Culbertson is also realistic about the enemy fighting against his men; he acknowledges the superior stalking power and knowledge of the land that the Vietcong possess, and is quick to note any Rambo marines were soon sobered by the unforgiving jungle war. Perhaps one of the books greatest strengths, it is interesting to see the marines adapt to the ways of Charlie, both using it against him as well as for their own tactics.

With that said, the reader quickly notices vast lapses in organization, repetition, and general oddness that saturate the work and turn it into a tedious slog. Most of the narrative's marine actions are similar to any of the others, with usually chapter titles serving as the only difference. Culbertson will randomly go on tirades against stuck up liberals at home, weapons makers and industrialists, and LBJ (whom he constantly derides as being in the pocket of Bell helicopter). At first seeming like an amusing one-off, the reader quickly sees the comical intensity of the author, cringing as if he were "that uncle" at the Christmas dinner.

Despite the title of the book, Culbertson is himself not part of the sniper groups he writes about, which would be fine, but the absolute heaps of praise he dumps on some fellow marines is dreadfully repetitive. If the author wanted me to remember the name Tom Casey, he has done a fine job, as pages and pages of masturbatory brown nosing toward the sergeant fill the book. Removing the repetitive drivel ("finest marines in this part of Vietnam, M16s sucked, Tom Casey teaching his boys about honor") would seriously cut the book to maybe 50 pages of content.

Interestingly, when the book starts getting decent towards the end and begins to form some kind of narrative with the snipers deployed to new locations and a sniper school opening in Vietnam, it abruptly ends, leaving the reader to ponder what kind of whirlwind they had just gone through. And for most history readers, the dizzying spin will not be worth the small amounts of information gleaned here.

[Alfredo Delgado · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book caught my attention with the cover when I was in the library looking for books. The book tells well illustrated stories of missions that Mr. Culbertson and his fellow service members in Vietnam (1967). Stories of the 2nd battalion, 5th marine sniper division in Vietnam. I liked how the book was very descriptive when telling the stories - ¨ -Ten thousand miles away in Da Nang the temperature was 95 degrees and there wasn´t a cloud in the sky. ¨ I read the first 7 chapters of the book and i had a hard time focusing on the groups mentioned in the story, following the story line. For me there was too much information to keep track of at once. By no means is this a bad book, it is just not for me right now, maybe i can pick it back up in the future. I would rate this book right now a 2, It didnt keep my attention and was hard to follow most of the time, just not for me.

[Steve Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the worst war narrative I’ve ever read. I’ve read hundreds.

The prose is terrible. His sentence structure wouldn’t pass a tenth grade English exam. His style is ridiculously repetitive, jingoistic, hyperbolic, and melodramatic. He loves colorful adjectives and overuses them.

His similes are laughable. At one point he describes rice fields as swimming under helicopters like sunfish. With another he introduces a Samoan Marine, Fofo Tuitele with this: “Like the great rhinos and rogue elephants of the African savanna, Fofo had no natural enemies except Victor Charlie.”

So that’s why we were in Vietnam. To stop the Viet Cong from poaching elephants and rhinos in Africa. God bless America.

On page 63 the author refers to himself in the first person. Later he refers to himself in the third person. By page 97 he’s back to a first person narrative, then back to third person.

He contradicts himself throughout the book. He’d make a point, and then upend it. He was all over the map with his opinions. It was as if the book was written by two or more authors, and then shuffled and redacted.

He has sniper Vaughn Nickell making his first kill on page 134...after describing him killing the enemy earlier in the battle.

He describes the impact of rifle rounds as literally picking people up and knocking them back, defying the laws of physics. That’s a Hollywood movie trope.

He has Marines opening cans of rations with bayonets and K-Bar knives. Seriously? Nobody had a can opener? Not even the P-38’s issued to troops? Nobody thought to have one sent from home or brought back from a PX while on leave?

He describes the M-14 rifles as having pistol grips. They don’t.

Details like this would make a veteran question whether Culbertson actually saw any time in the field. I’m sure he did, but...Jesus.

Culbertson creates a tally fictional account of General Giap talking to Ho Chi Minh on page 57. Here he takes the part of the “omniscient narrator”, and provides details beyond that even eyewitness would have recorded. He knows that they drinking tea at an ornate wrought iron table, that Ho at one point is stroking his beard...he even knows what Ho and Giap are thinking. This incident never took place. Culbertson invented it.

Later he seemingly does the same in a conversation between a company commander and a Colonel. This is a conversation he could not have been privy to, and it’s described to an implausible level of detail. After this I simply couldn’t trust the narrative.

I usually donate books like this to the library. This one is going directly into the trash.

[Shannon Pritchard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a brag book. The writer is an old soldier, so I can forgive him for that. Due to his idol worship of Sgt Tom Casey (Casey is the victim here) he tells us time and time again that he is the greatest sniper in Vietnam and the 5th Platoon snipers the greatest snipers, however the entire platoon does not make as many kills in a year as Carlos Hathcock did alone in six months. He thinks a good sniper is one that can hit a "somewhere" in the body at 400 yards and that most sniper shots are 100 yards or less... well an average good shooter can do either of these with open sights; that's not what snipers do, that is what marksmen do. He tells us of the blue waters in the interior of Vietnam, which makes me wonder if he was really there, or is he just so caught up in hyperbole? He states empathically that the .223 cartridge "at 450 meters were incapable of killing a dog, much less a man" when it will easily kill a man a more than a mile if you can hit him-there lies the rub, hitting him. The book is plainly mostly fiction; the writer went to sniper school for two weeks and served in the platoon for three months and proceeds to tell us intimate thoughts and words he never heard. All this I could forgive in appreciation of his service.

What I cannot forgive is that roiled in his personal jealousy, envy and enmity, he denigrates Carlos Hathcock time and time again, calls him a liar, and then has the hypocrisy to put Hathcock's picture on the front of his book. He can't hurt Hathcock's memory, all he does is demonstrate that he himself is a shallow, insecure and dishonorable little man. Mr. Cubertson, you will never be a pimple of sniper on Carlos Hathcock's backside. I suppose you do the best you can do, so you can't be faulted too much for that, but your vile language, your trying to build yourself up falsely by tearing a down a really deserving man shows that you will never be a pimple on the backside of a gentleman's butt.

I had to actually force myself to finish reading the book just to see how low this man would go.

[Armen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me make one thing clear, first. I respect the men and women who went to Vietnam. I do not dispute that they sacrificed much, endured much, and that people back home didn't give them the support and acknowledgment they so desired.

That being said, I was not impressed by this book. Maybe I've been spoiled by the combat memoirs of people like Paul Rieckhoff, Dwight Birdwell, Greg Boyington, and even Spike Milligan, but this book would've benefited from an editor. Had an editor been involved, this could've been a very informative and moving account of men in extreme combat conditions asked to pretty much be full-time miracle workers.

Instead, in my opinion, it comes across as a vindictive, rambling, repetitive, chest-thumping indulgence. The narrative's also bogged down by overuse of technical jargon and unnecessary detail. Thankfully the book has a glossary, but even so, the jargon and detail was heavy. For example, in a book about the day to day lives and actions of American snipers in Vietnam, is it relevant to the reader to know (as on p. 210) that Tom Elbert's bullets are "168-grain Lake City Arsenal match boattail bullets?"

I was also rather surprised by the pages where he describes an apparently private conversation between Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap, down to the detail of a porcelain teacup on a balcony railing. Vo Nguyen Giap then "pray[s] to Lord Buddha." Sorry, sir. In the absence of any footnotes or endnotes in your work that cite something that could detail such a meeting, that's not fact or history, that's fiction.

tl;dr: Could've been better. Two stars.

[Dominik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came to me while I was at a book store, just looking around. While doing that I found it, "13 cent killers". It looked good and so I bought it, and here is what it's about. 13 Cent Killers takes place during the Vietnam war, it's based on true facts and events fallowing the 5th marine snipers. This book is all about conflict mostly external. Because it's explaining the journey and hardships of the snipers during the duration of the Vietnam war. These men aren't just any sniper the most decorated and deadly company in the business the 5th marine regiment of snipers. In this book none of the snipers names are really released for governments sake. But many of them received metals for their service in the military. These men don't just stomp around the Jungle and shoot at anything that moves. They take days or weeks to plan and track their specific targets behind enemy lines. They are called upon when a commander or a counter snipers is located or is considered a threat. This book connects to me by many ways one being iv'e had family members that have fought in Vietnam. Also I do go hunting so I know what it takes to find a specific target and track that target or periods of time. Lastly because I know it might be a hard experience to shoot something that doesn't seem like a threat but is. So I give respect to all the men that served and lost their lives in not only Vietnam but in every war this country has faced. Overall I would give this book a 5 of 5 because it gives good information about history and explains a lot of the war peace by peace. I would recommend this to anyone who likes war stores or books set in a war background. So read it!

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read hundreds of books on the Vietnam War and I must say, while this book was okay, it was not great. There are so many more books out there about experiences in this conflict that are very well written and you are not able to put down.

This book has a lot of repeating stories, a lot of monotone writing. And a lot of rah rah, we are the best out there. To me the story should be told, not the self bravado written into this book. Let the reader form an opinion if there are any heroes in the book, not the self proclaimed by the author.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of this book reads like a love letter from the author to his fellow Marine buddies but in spite of that this is an interesting read. Culbertson correctly points out that America has some serious misconceptions regarding their enemy and how the battle tactics from the past would succeed in a jungle environment. The ending is rather abrupt but I believe there are 2 follow up books that extend the mission accounts described here.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good insight into life in the Vietnam War. It was almost as if each chapter was an essay, since he repeated some of the stories and a lot of the back ground information several times.

[Trebor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have tremendous respect for the guys who went to Vietnam, although I was one of the ones who protested against it. Referred to by the author as the cowards back home and other such derogatory terms, it's easy to see his anger at the dissenters and his extreme camaraderie and love of the Marine Corps. His life was on the line everyday during his tour of duty, and the alliance of combat brothers was the only thing that mattered in their life or death struggle. This the author emphasized over and over in every chapter, along with the names of this fellow combatants. He belonged to a specialized group of marksmen termed snipers, whose duty was to cover our patrolling marine platoons from ambush and VC snipers who took terrible tolls on our troops. His graphic descriptions of fire fights and battles exemplify the callous disrespect for life that war instills in a person and is necessary for survival in grave conflict. Hats off to these veterans and every veteran who has served in the armed forces for the greater good of our country, for that was their belief at the time. Thanks for their service!

[Todd Kiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good honest approach to what really went on in Viet Nam. John Culbertson did a great job telling the reader exactly what our troops did, how they fought, the approach taken by I Corp and what our heroes were up against. To enjoy this book you really have to be interested in military history and the intricacies of war and battle plans.
It was eye opening for someone that hadn’t done much reading or studying of the Viet Nam war.
If your interested in military tactics, battle strategy or the Viet Nam war, you need to read Culbertson’s book. The snipers portrayed in the book were true heroes and went above and beyond to assist the field troops.

[Mike Negley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by an American veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corp as a sniper for the 5th Marine Regiment Sniper Platoon during the Vietnam War. Per the author, he met with several other snipers that also served in the 5th Marine Regiment to compare notes before writing this historical account. The book discusses how the snipers were used by their command structure, many battles and how strategies and weapons changed during the Vietnam years. It includes the author’s personal opinions about the war, including the strategy of the politicians, good & bad from the soldier on the ground.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fair to good read. I enjoy the personal opinions and details from the author because it reads like we are sitting around the table as he shares accounts from his time in service. I wish more veterans from this era would share their accounts as it is great for those of us interested to learn from.

[Wayne G. Vawter]

Excellent read

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of military and weapon terminology used, but it does not deter you from understanding Culbertson's purpose of telling you about the snipers in Vietnam and you they were.

[Jordan Ferrier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good insight on what some of the troops went through in the Vietnam War. Not the most gripping story.

[Michael R. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Culbertson captured some of the essence of combat in eastern South Vietnam, and gave a thorough account of who he ran into while in the battalion scout-sniper program. However, he needs to reacquaint himself with the geometry of the M-14 rifle. I would have liked to hear more about the terrain and wildlife - and perhaps more about the Vietnamese people, and less about his anger with the American political environment. The frustration he expressed was prevalent among most Marines at the time (I share it myself). He said it best, when he mentioned the ROK Marine who said "winning the hearts and minds" of the local people was a waste of time.

[Donald Gillespie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the psyche of a sniper; but, poor writing and very repetitive

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reality. Some people aren't ready for it.

[Richard A Lambing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Wish I were younger, & more able.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book about snipers in the Marine 5th Infantry in Vietnam. It was an interesting book; the format was different than other books I have read. As the author said, it was more about the stories of men as they remembered what happened being discussed in an informal setting. As a result, there was a bit of overlapping [as the author said would happen].

I am not sure how informative the book was in terms of military actions, per se. Obviously, it discussed specific fights and some specific battles, but not necessarily in as great detail as other books have done. It seemed like the author's intent was more to get people to know who the snipers were as individuals as opposed to mystery figures who hid in the shadows.

The author is definitely opinionated - make no mistake about this! He despises liberals and those who do not support the troops; he also despises those who distorted the war and lied about what was going on to further their leftist, liberal agenda. But at the same time he also despises those in power who send soldiers to war for the purpose of fueling corporate profits. He makes disparaging remarks about the Army at times, but that is to be expected [he is a Marine, after all, and books written by former members of the Army also make comments about the Marines that are derogatory in nature]. He speaks highly of the Army Rangers in general, which was surprising. He also pokes a jab at the Navy Seals, saying the best thing that could be said of them was that they could swim. Not sure why, but that comment about the Seals was hilarious to me. Maybe it was the arrogance behind it.

One thing the author was definitely clear on was how much the M-16 sucked as a new weapon for the armed forces, and he is not the only person to complain about how pathetic the M-16 is. He goes into greater detail about why the M-16 is such a poor weapon, but makes his point quite clear. If the weapon is truly such a poor choice it truly boggles the brain as to why the military wanted it to be used for so long. Perhaps it improved over time? [highly doubtful, based on books written about experiences during the Gulf War]

I guess I liked the interactions between the people the most. The book helped explain the sniper's mindset better than other books I have read. Perhaps because this book dealt more with personal recollections instead of researching a particular battle. It seemed to be more about relationships between soldiers and how, even though the government might have betrayed the men and the civilians turned on the troops due to misinformation and bad information, the fighting men still had each other and learned to rely upon each other during the good times and bad for support.

There is most assuredly some chest-thumping as well as pointing of fingers at liberals, but it is no different than what I have read in books written by liberals [required reading for college courses, mind you - not necessarily by my choice]. Some of it comes across as heavy-handed; I do not think it takes away from what is being said. These men survived some hellacious events, which certainly entitles them to [some] bragging rights. It seemed to me, though, there was an underlying humility as well, that they did survive when so many around them were cut down in the prime of life.

The whole conversation between Minh and Giap was a bit much, though. I was thinking to myself 'where did THIS come from?' while reading it. It would be hilarious to learn that that whole sequence truly did occur - not sure why, but it would. Perhaps because it is so out of touch [for lack of a better choice of words] with the rest of the stories in the book.

It was a good book - I enjoyed reading it.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book that focused more on the names and less on the deeds of the men with whom the author served in the Vietnam war. A lot of pats on the back, impressive sounding nicknames, and claims of valor, with a few anecdotes parsed throughout the book. While the men who served in the 5th Marine snipers (and with all servicemen and -women) deserve appreciation for what they went through, for the most part this book skipped telling tales of bravery and courage and spent most of its time repeating the same names over and over, each time talking about how great it was that the author got to spend time with them in Vietnam.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

When he is actually telling stories about life during the war or in combat it is interesting. Unfortunately that is mixed in with political rants and repetition. It is more of short stories about different people's experiences written by the same person. He says at the beginning that there would be repetition, but it didn't make it any easier to take. It was a neat take on snipers real stories. These sniper teams were in the field following platoons on patrols. Their skills were used to disrupt ambushes, eliminate machine gun and mortar teams, officers and enemy snipers during patrols. The portion that talked about the in country sniper school that was set up was interesting too.

[Dirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on Vietnam sniper warfare.

[foo4luv · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's interesting, but the military jargon is difficult to wade through, even with the glossary in the back of the book.

[Justus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sniper is badass, no doubt about it. Not a Pulitzer material but still worth to read.

And also its exciting to read how they hate the mattel toy gun with its wimpy 5.56 bullet :)