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So let us tell you, because we know firsthand, the city of Ramadi in Al-Anbar province was a gigantic shithole. Something Iraq was definitely not short on was shitholes. However, that didn't stop Staff Sergeant Jim Gilliland from stopping by to drop a few bad guy bodies in that decided to commit nefarious acts. They thought they could get away with it, they thought nobody would see them, oh but someone saw them indeed.First off, major kudos to the name of Jim's sniper team. Callsign Shadow. It's not often that cool motivating callsigns coincide with badass actions, but the fates aligned and we get to tell this story today. Jim and his team were set up within "range" of the hospital.There was an insurgent who had just opened fire and killed an American. That deed guaranteed the retribution that Jim was about to deliver. Inhale. Exhale. Natural pause. Squeeze the trigger. Boom. The retribution Jim Gilliland delivered that day was a 7.62mm projectile fired from 1,250 meters.
The scope on the rifle was only accurate out to 1000 meters. To hit his target, Jim had to aim well above the target, check that, the insurgent who'd just killed a fellow American.The round flew from the barrel and struck the enemy fighter in the chest. Dead.Let no mistake be made, if you kill an American, men who follow in the traditions of the sniper will find you, they will see you, they will kill you. There is a saying, we're not quite sure where it came from, but regarding this instance, it rings true. "Never start a quarrel with a man who can end you from another zip code."
After their mission was over Staff Sergeant Jim Gilliland learned that it was his close friend who had been killed by the insurgent he had killed. Retribution comes quick.That shot was a new record for the longest kill in Iraq with a 7.62x51 NATO cartridge.Read more stories of American Grit:
