Memories of Vietnam

Memories of Vietnam

The song, reflecting a far different time in American history, made number one on the charts. Most people who hear the words today would probably laugh, but at that place and time, they inspired me and the day that I got those silver wings was one of the proudest in my life.

I went to Vietnam in 1968 and as per the norm, served there for one year, mostly in a small camp near the Cambodian border with twelve American "green berets" and several hundred Montagnards, the hill people of Vietnam. We were a proud, professional unit and never came close to committing any war crimes. It was different for us, however, because we were working with the local people and dependent on them for our very survival.

A number of facts became clear after a very short period of time in Vietnam. First of all, the South Vietnamese (our erstwhile allies) did not have nearly the same degree of dedication or drive, as did the North Vietnamese enemy. They just didn't care as much. Secondly, and related to the first, all of the real fighting had to be done by the Americans to insure success. Thirdly, the enemy would tolerate the loss of thousands of soldiers far more easily than we would tolerate the loss of one. Given all of the above, it was pretty clear even to a regular soldier in the middle of the jungle that we were not going to win that war.

The most depressing factor, however, was to observe the impact which the war was having on American soldiers. Other than elite units such as mine, drug use was very prevalent. Lack of discipline was a major problem and officers were sometimes even "fragged" by their own men. That meant that a live grenade was thrown into their sleeping quarters at night. The Americans did not understand the Vietnamese language or culture. Because any Vietnamese of any age could be planting mines, giving support to the enemy, and observing our positions and reporting on them, virtually everyone was seen as the enemy. Moreover, individual soldiers on patrol had the power of god in their hands in the form of their rifle and the lack of strong supervision and controls.  Young men just out of their teenage years suddenly had the power of life or death over people.

At best villagers were treated harshly, searched repeatedly, and forced at times to relocate. Others had their huts burned, crops destroyed, and were mistreated or killed for any number of reasons: either willingly or unwillingly they had aided and abetted enemy soldiers; the American soldiers may have just suffered serious casualties elsewhere because of mines or snipers; or simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the famous quotes from the time was from an American officer after ordering an intense artillery barrage against a village "we had to destroy the village to save it!"

What happened in Vietnam is what happens in all wars. Certainly it happened in this region following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The enemy (or the population in general) starts to be seen not as a person or human, but as something else. Rules of behavior, which we have all learned from infancy suddenly, do not apply. In fact, there is an absence of rules and that, combined with adrenalin, fear, and even terror, brings out the very worst in people.  

All of these feelings have been coming back to me more and more in the past two years, as the situation in Iraq continues to spiral downward. It looks so much like a repeat of my Vietnam experience. There is exactly the same type of policy decisions and difficult circumstances, which lead to serious abuses of the local population.  While individual American guards at Abu Ghraib prison behaved horribly, the reality is that the U.S. government policies towards prisoners and what was permitted to be done to them was an essential factor which led to the abuses. The U.S. government policy which trains soldiers in roadblock duties and convoy duties to respond instantaneously with deadly force to any perceived threat of any kind has resulted in probably hundreds of dead Iraqis, whose crime was to not understand that they were acting in ways which would get them killed. As in Vietnam, it may be justified as "force protection," but that provides little comfort to its innocent victims.

The recent revelations of the murders and rape committed by U.S. forces there were inevitable. There will be a lot more. The same circumstances exist in Iraq today as so long ago in Vietnam. Our soldiers are there as occupiers, targets of suicide bombers and guerrilla fighters. They know that every car, every person can bring instantaneous death. They don't know the language and don't understand the culture.

CNN was recently showing footage shot by an award-winning cameraman in Iraq prior to his death in Sudan. The footage showed an average American patrol, where our soldiers were screaming in English to scared, uncomprehending villagers "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND" over and over, roughly pushing them down and searching them. Life becomes cheap, at least the lives of Iraqis. So abuses such as at Abu Ghraib prison and the murders and harassment of Iraqis are as inevitable as the sun coming up. No occupying army facing a guerrilla war, no matter how well intentioned, can end up behaving differently.

The best example of this differentiation between "our" soldiers and others is that the life insurance policy of our soldiers in Iraq gives their survivors $400,000 in case of their death. The survivors of an Iraqi civilian accidentally killed by our armed forces may receive a payment of $2500. Moreover, at least until now, the overwhelming presumption in the case of any death or injury to Iraqi civilians was basically a cynical line from Vietnam days: "sorry about that!" 

This is a cancer, which is eating away at the discipline, honor, and reputation of the army and the United States as a whole.  Following Vietnam, the American Army was in shambles for years. It took the end of the draft and a decade of rebuilding to return our army to what it had been and should always be. We will have to undergo the same process following Iraq.

It is for this reason that regardless of the political consequences - and they may be dramatic - I am a supporter of withdrawing our troops from Iraq over a one-year period, which is clearly defined. And during that time, we need to withdraw from the sort of activities that lead to the potential for abuse and war crimes.

The fact is that there is no good solution in Iraq and we are fooling ourselves if we believe any differently. The three major groupings (and their foreign supporters) have radically different agendas and will not abandon them regardless of what we do. If I thought staying could make a difference in the ultimate outcome, I may feel differently. But it will not. It will just make the process last longer and the damage to our military even greater.

So we should announce a timetable for departure and do all we can to convince all sides to step up to maintain an Iraq without us.

If they are incapable or unwilling to do so, let it be on their heads. I saw American soldiers fighting and dying to maintain the liberty of South Vietnam when their own citizens would not. Something similar (but more complex) is happening now in Iraq. It is doomed to fail and we will get no thanks for it in the end. Perhaps that is as it should be, as it was our own mistaken judgments, which brought it about in the first place.