Fred said:
I consider the rape scandal to be minor compared to the
institutionalized tacit approval of murder of civilians. The most
egregious case recently publicized about those so-called Special Forces
and their murder of Vietnamese civilians is a case in point. The
individuals involved were not real Special Forces- they appear to be a
collection of truly sub-normal IQ types the Army threw together to go
behind enemy lines and harass the Vietcong. The reality was that they
avoided the Vietcong and harassed hapless Vietnamese farmers- summarily
murdering them capriciously. Their so-called actions were of absolutely
no tactical value whatsoever. There was an official investigation, and
the Army concluded that many of the acts were murder, but they went on
to conclude that prosecution would serve no useful purpose. I consider
this to be a major obscenity. Recent interviews with some of these swine
show that they have absolutely no remorse whatsoever- they did it to
survive they say. This is total BS- they are psychopaths and morons- and
the worst crime against nature was that they did survive.
Fred,
I don't disagree. I believe, however, that rape at home and wanton
murder in a battle area arise from the same mindset. The great war
horrors from Vietnam that I heard directly from the perpetrator was told
as an adventure story, like reminiscences of an overnight hike in camp.
The narrator was a pilot who flew daily bombing sorties over North
Vietnam for two weeks straight, then went to Tokyo for a week's R&R. His
orders were to fly a big loop over the ocean to drop his bombs on those
days when he couldn't, because of weather or flak, reach his assigned
target. (One doesn't land with bombs on board!) He seemed very proud
that he and other squadron members had worked out a way to get home
quicker. They would climb high, then dive, then pull up sharply and
release their bombs while climbing. That way, the bombs fell on the
countryside (and, when they wanted extra kicks, in towns) entirely at
random. What fun!
One day, flying home, A spotter on a hilltop fired on him with his
rifle. As he turned to begin a strafing run, the spotter dived into a
hole in the ground and disappeared. The same thing happened the next
day, but after that, he saved his "surplus" bombs for the mountain top.
The pilot and the spotter began a routine. The spotter would shoot at
him with rifle fire as he began his bombing run, then dive into the
bunker. as the plane passed over, the spotter would emerge and fire
again. Then one day, the spotter opened fire with a 20 mm canon (or
something similar), putting some holes in the plane. The pilot told us
of his skill in quickly leaving the scene. When I asked what happened
the next time, he said, "I never went back. He was trying to *kill* me!"
When I asked the pilot what he had been trying to do, he said, "That's
different. He's a gook." In Colorado Springs, he would probably have
said, "That's different. She's a broad." Same detachment, same result.
Jerry
