Rafe, hospitalized at Qui Nhon, was already accounted for; Clark was to take a relatively rear-area post, at battalion headquarters; Meserve was to be shifted to another platoon. Eriksson and four other enlisted men were then on a reconnaissance patrol in the vicinity of the girls home. They had gone scarcely twenty metres when a cry of distress halted them. No such dismay was expressed. entered the caves, he said, the patrol had long ago left the vicinity of the curiously shaped rock formation, and had descended so deep into the valley that the men were practically able to touch the thick, rough outer walls of the caves. Conscience was one thing that crossed over from civilian life to war, he said. He has no idea to what extent that may operate, however; nor is he prepared, he said, to bank on anything so abstract. You traded the girls life for your well-being, he was told. Eriksson told me he has no qualms about Rafes being at large, because Rafes remorse over the criminal episode had been evident to everybody in the Radcliff courtroom. Loc was spared, but Mao was seized by the two soldiers, who bound her hands behind her back with a length of coconut rope. . Even his routine duties as a G.I. Based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War, 'Casualties of War', directed by legendary filmmaker Brian De Palma, is An Effective Film, that talks about Human-Cruelty & Violence. They were all strange faces. Asked whether Maos continued presence on Hill 192 might not ultimately have endangered the lives of the members of the patrol, Eriksson said, Sir, this girl wasnt supposed to be on this patrol.. Technically, I myself was a suspect, Eriksson told me. Like Clark, he was given to quick movements, but his behavior had nothing to do with embellishing Meserves thinking. had shown for Erikssons safety be explained unless those cracks existed. Im still young, he said, and it took me a moments effort to recall the fact of his youth, and the youth of Meserve and the rest of the patrol. He told me that their bond was religion and that the interest each of them took in it had been heightened by their experiences in the war. Looking back, Eriksson thinks that the small band of V.C. It had built up sharply. To listen to them, and to the testimony that the guys in the patrol gave, Mao was probably living happily in her hamlet. As early as the opening day of Rafes trial, which was the first one held, he realized that it was idle to consider whether the G.I.s punishment would, or could, fit the crime. incident on hill 192 where are they now - pamelahudson.net Thinking along these lines, Eriksson said, he arrived at a kind of strategy in regard to Mao. He had no idea how long this feeling would continue, but for the present, he knew, he lived with the charge daily, often wondering how Mao might have fared in a time of peace. Sounding as though he felt he would be years mining its lessons, he told me, I decided that whatever jobs Id get, they werent going to be as important to me as the way I lived. Leave it to me. [14], In 1992, former PFC Thomas gained further notoriety when he was charged with being an accessory after the fact in the murder trial of George Loeb, who was charged with the 17 May 1991 shooting death of an African-American USS Saratoga sailor named Harold J. Mansfield. Eriksson talked with me at his home in (I shall say) Minneapolis, where, since leaving the Army, he has been earning his living as a cabinetmaker at a local department store. Some Vietnamese people were bringing children out of. They scare that discipline into you in basic training, Eriksson told me. In turn, the sergeant passed the news on to Lieutenant Reilly, who sent for Eriksson. As a result, Eriksson left Colorado for Fort Leavenworth, where Manuel, serving his time in the Disciplinary Barracks, was to be retried. [1] Although news of the incident reached the U.S. shortly after the soldiers' trials,[3] the story gained widespread notoriety through Daniel Lang's 1969 article for The New Yorker[4] and his subsequent book. Commanding, Erikssons tour of duty in Vietnam came to an end on November 28, 1967, a year after the patrol paid its visit to Maos hamlet. In mild contrast, Rafe was capable of questioning authority, Eriksson said, but he generally wound up by going along with whoever seemed to be the leaderjust to keep from making trouble.. I had to give one small child mouth-to-mouth respiration and bring her back to life. I can assure you I wasnt being paranoid in thinking he might be shot in the back for seeing me. She was pleased, she told me, that I had asked to hear about the episode involving Mao. (Dr. Finck, a well-known Army pathologist, was one of the team of three physicians that performed the autopsy on the late President Kennedy.) It was like living in an overorganized junglefull of names, ranks, and serial numbers but not much else., Dispiriting though he found the atmosphere in the platoon area, Eriksson went on, there were traces of conscience there. But. Incident on Hill 192 Daniel Lang Published by Secker & Warburg, London, Great Britain, 1970 Seller: Secondhand Books 'n' Things, Ross Creek, Australia Seller Rating: Contact seller Book First Edition Used - Hardcover Condition: Good 44.51 Convert currency 9.15 Shipping From Australia to United Kingdom Quantity: 1 Add to Basket Hardcover. We couldnt have gone very far, I realized, but it was going to be dark soon and we might find a hideout somewhere in the brush. Erikssons patrol leader delivered a tongue-lashing to his counterpart, who apologized. Deciding to close in on the three Vietnamese, Meserve dispatched Eriksson and Rafe to the hootch to pick up a supply of smoke grenades. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Initially, however, Eriksson discerned no signs of inner conflict in Vorst. A smile spreading on his face, he took the scarf and stuffed it into Maos mouth. Eriksson had never laid eyes on the chaplain before. His target turned out to be the rump of a wallowing water buffalo, the animal raising itself from the shallow stream in clumsy panic and lumbering out of view. Necessarily, he said, he was in a position to speak only of the behavior of American soldiers, since they were the people he fought and lived with. He was all of seven when he was driving a tractor on the farm. But the Sergeant did nothing about the escaping V.C., for he was now powerfully distracted from the enemy; in the distance, still inaudible and looking miniaturized, were four approaching gunships. At one point, Eriksson recalled, the Captain warned him that if the incident did result in courts-martial, he might face rough going on the witness stand. In addition to the occasional remarks he heard in the police barracks, a train of other developments served to remind him of the girl. Of course, I never bring up the girl now, because I know how much shes still on his mind, but Sven brings her up, and usually when I dont expect it. Eriksson and his wife spent Christmas of 1967 with members of their families in the small farm town up north that they both came from, and while they were there, an uncle of Erikssons asked him about Mao. It was certainly possible to do so, as I knew for myself from having read the court record of the trials he had brought about: seven bulky volumes in the offices of the Clerk of Courts, U.S. Army Judiciary, in Falls Church, Virginia, which included Erikssons testimony against the members of the patrol; their convictions and appeals; interminable correspondence between judges and opposing counsel; and depositions concerning the character of individual defendants. Even the prosecutor predicted defeat, Eriksson told me, and during a short break Eriksson heard the judge remark to the court reporter that the trial was a waste of the taxpayers money. Eriksson decides to do something about her death and reports it to his superiors. [11] In 1968, Joseph Garcia was acquitted on the appeal of his initial 15-year sentence and his dishonorable discharge was reversed after it was determined that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated, and his confession was ruled as inadmissible. Eriksson himself helped Manuels case by testifying briefly as a defense witness, corroborating the fact that Manuel had refused to obey Meserves order to kill Mao. That was a bum rap. Smiling, Eriksson remarked to me, We were thirty thousand feet up by then, or he might have asked for his money back., In Minnesota, Eriksson returned to the small apartment in Minneapolis where we were sitting, his wife having maintained it while he was gone. Based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966, we follow . Then he proceeded to tell us that if anything happened to Eriksson, our souls would belong to him. Possibly to help them retain their souls, Vorst announced that he was breaking up the patrol.

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incident on hill 192 where are they now

incident on hill 192 where are they now

incident on hill 192 where are they now