I wrote this next thing as part of an autobiographical work. It seems apt now. The time was 1969. pl
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"In May I turned over command of the team and went to the coast to spend a week at battalion headquarters writing reports and being debriefed. While at Battalion, I went to dinner one night at a brand new Chinese restaurant located as a concession on the big U.S. Army post at Long Binh. There were four MI people at my table and nearby several junior officers from the 101st Airborne Division were eating at another table. Among them was a young captain wearing the faded, worn uniform in which he had come in from the field. He had the haggard, sunburned look that came with living in the outdoors. He had the look that in the French Army is called “Le Christ descendu de la croix.” During the meal, the restaurant door opened and in came MG Melvin Zais, the 101st’s CG and his aide. A week or so before, the 101st had repeatedly assaulted a hill in the central highlands, the hill which came to be known as “Hamburger Hill.” They assaulted it nine or ten times from the bottom up instead of landing on the top and fighting their way down. This did not make a lot of sense given the number of helicopters in the division. Rumor had it that Zais had ordered the attack to be made in this way to demonstrate to the American command and to the NVA that the 101st was still as fine a fighting organization as it had been when he had served in it in World War II. It had been a difficult fight. A lot of men died. They took the hill. The young-old captain put down his chopsticks and placed his sun cracked hands on the edge of the table to watch General Zais. Zais ignored him, although the aide whispered something to the general about him. Tension grew in the restaurant. The captain’s friends talked to him. One of them put his hand on the man’s forearm. The young man struggled to his feet despite the restraining hands that tried to drag him back into his seat. “Blackjack!” he roared across the restaurant, shaking his fist as he did so. (Blackjack was Zais’ radio call sign.) “Blackjack!” he went on. “Damn you! You killed my company! Damn you! Are you happy now? Are you happy? You killed my company..” Zais never looked at him. He stood up and walked out the door trailing his aide. The captain sat down, put his elbows on the table, and covered his eyes with his hands." pl
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Every once in a while I hear some fool say how much better "the force" is now. You are welcome America. You are welcome. pl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dak_To
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_937
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fire_Support_Base_Ripcord
Look at the numbers. pl
