Posted: 2/27/2010 3:17:19 PM EDT
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So I'm reading this book called Tiger Force that is about a small unit of the 101st from Vietnam that was supposed to be a recon/commando unit, but, long story short, they went apeshit, killed the shit out of anything and everything that moved, began openly wearing necklaces made out of human ears and other such goodness and the Army/govt covered it up until this reporter found out about it in 2002ish. BTW, interesting book, should read.
Anyhoo, the writer keeps refering to the LT that leads them as having a .15 carbine. It will say something like, Hawkins raised his .15 carbine and fired. So my question is, WTF is a .15 carbine? I assume he doesn't mean some variation of an M16 or does he? All the other soldiers are just said to have an M16, M60 or .45 handgun. Any ideas? |
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In December 2002, Michael Sallah, a reporter at the Toledo Blade newspaper, obtained unreleased, confidential records of U.S. Army commander Henry Tufts. One file in these records referred to a previously unpublished war crimes investigation known as the Coy Allegation. To investigate this further, Sallah obtained access to a large collection of documents produced by the investigation held at the National Archives in College Park, MD.[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Force#cite_note-5][6][/url] Sallah found that between 1971 and 1975 the Army's Criminal Investigation Command had investigated the Tiger Force unit for alleged war crimes committed between May and November 1967.[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Force#cite_note-6][7][/url] The documents included sworn statements from many Tiger Force veterans, which detailed war crimes allegedly committed by Tiger Force members during the Song Ve Valley and Operation Wheeler military campaigns. The statements, from both individuals who allegedly participated in the war crimes and those that did not, described war crimes such as the following:
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The platoon-sized unit, approximately 45 paratroopers was founded by Colonel David Hackworth in November 1965 to "outguerrilla the guerrillas."[2] Tiger Force was a highly decorated unit, and paid for its reputation with heavy casualties.[3] In October 1968, Tiger Force's parent battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which included a mention of Tiger Force's service at Dak To in June 1966.
Sounds pretty badass, sans the war crimes allegations. 
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Acusing people of murder in Viet Nam was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 One might speculate that the other several hundred thousand servicemen who didn't go around raping and murdering pregnant mothers would find it offensive to imply that they did the same. |
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War is hell and to second guess those involved is Monday morning quarterbacking. Throw out all the reporters and let our boys take care of business. The American people dont have the stomach for what war entails. To allow reporters to show select pieces, out of context, to create outrage is, in and of itself, an outrage. .....I would rather you say "thank you" and go about your day. Either way, I dont give a damn what you think you are entitled to. |
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Acusing people of murder in Viet Nam was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 One might speculate that the other several hundred thousand servicemen who didn't go around raping and murdering pregnant mothers would find it offensive to imply that they did the same. You know, I have never read that stupid movie quote that way before. I am going back and editing my post. Good point. |
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Quoted:
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Acusing people of murder in Viet Nam was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 One might speculate that the other several hundred thousand servicemen who didn't go around raping and murdering pregnant mothers would find it offensive to imply that they did the same. You know, I have never read that stupid movie quote that way before. I am going back and editing my post. Good point. Personnally, I wasn't offended. I doubt many others were either. The quote says more about the insanity that was that war than the actions of the majority of those who fought it. |
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Interesting stuff...
heres a little reading..link I've read a book along similar lines about the Aus SASR in Vietnam. They were a little different though, as they preferred to sneak quietly though the jungle, in more of a recon role. |