I have followed some trails of videos on snipers and they certainly weren't cowards. Who cares anyway if they save their buddy's lives.
There was one story of a sniper in 'Nam who had a big price on his head and he was being stalked by a counter sniper. He caught the glint of the reflection off the other guy's scope and got off a round which is said to have passed through the scope, killing this stalker instantly. Think about it. The other guy had a bead on him and was about to fire a round. Life/death dependent on a split second.
The sniper credited with the most success was a Finn in the "Winter War" against the Ruskies. He was amazing but suffered a serious head wound. Used open sights because a scope was too obvious.
