Army Defends Vietnam War Crimes Probe

News for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

AFP
Tuesday October 21, 6:28 AM
Army defends probe of alleged Vietnam-era war crimes

The US Army said it acted properly more than three decades
ago in dropping an investigation into alleged war crimes by
an elite army unit whose members were accused of killing and
mutilating large numbers of civilians during the Vietnam War.

A spokesman, however, said the army was looking into
statements by veterans of the unit who were quoted over the
weekend by the Toledo Blade, an Ohio newspaper, as admitting
having killed civilians.

"We're looking at the issue," said Joe Burlas, the
spokesman. "It's not being ignored."

The Blade reported that hundreds of civilians were killed
over a seven-month period in 1967 by the 101st Airborne
Division's Tiger Force unit in the central highlands of
South Vietnam.

An official investigation, which was opened in 1971 at the
instigation of an outraged soldier, found evidence of some
20 war crimes, he said. The allegations included murder,
rape, mutilation and failure to report a war crime.

But commanders concluded there was insufficient evidence to
successfully try the case before a court martial, and the
investigation was closed in 1975 with no charges made, the
spokesman said.

"From the documents that we had, the army did everything
correctly," Burlas said.

He said the statute of limitations at the time for crimes
lesser than murder was two years and only three of the 18
soldiers suspected of committing war crimes were still on
active duty in 1975, he said. One of the three has since
died, but the other two are members of the retired reserve.

"Technically, they could be called back to active duty and
prosecuted should there be new evidence," he said.

But the Blade reported that six soldiers were allowed to
resign during the investigation, putting them beyond the
reach of military prosecution.

Two soldiers who tried to stop the atrocities were warned by
commanders to stay quiet before being transferred from the
unit, the newspaper said.

Sworn statements to army investigators, as well as
interviews by the Blade, portray a unit on a rampage with
the knowledge and encouragement of their commanders.

The newspaper said women and children were intentionally
blown up in underground bunkers and were practically buried
alive in mass graves. Elderly farmers were shot as they
worked in their fields.

In one incident, a field commander, Lieutenant James
Hawkins, allegedly shot and killed an elderly carpenter as
he begged for his life.

Hawkins denied it to army investigators, but in an interview
with the Blade acknowledged killing the man because his loud
cries would attract the enemy.

"I eliminated that right there," he was quoted as saying.

Four other soldiers told investigators there were other ways
of silencing the man.

Prisoners were tortured and executed while their ears and
scalps were severed for souvenirs, the report said. One
soldier kicked out the teeth of executed civilians for their
gold fillings.

"We would go into villages and just shoot everybody," a
former Tiger Force medic, Harold Fischer, is quoted as
saying. "We didn't need an excuse. If they were there, they
were dead. It just made me sick."

--
Dan Clore

Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm

Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...
Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...

Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/
News for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

"It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
*anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
-- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
_Detective Comics_ #608

Now a Good Iraqi Shit is A dead Iraqi Shit


Dan Clore wrote in message news:<3F949384.6050101@columbia-center.org>...
> News for Anarchists & Activists:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
> AFP
> Tuesday October 21, 6:28 AM
> Army defends probe of alleged Vietnam-era war crimes
>
> The US Army said it acted properly more than three decades
> ago in dropping an investigation into alleged war crimes by
> an elite army unit whose members were accused of killing and
> mutilating large numbers of civilians during the Vietnam War.
>
> A spokesman, however, said the army was looking into
> statements by veterans of the unit who were quoted over the
> weekend by the Toledo Blade, an Ohio newspaper, as admitting
> having killed civilians.
>
> "We're looking at the issue," said Joe Burlas, the
> spokesman. "It's not being ignored."
>
> The Blade reported that hundreds of civilians were killed
> over a seven-month period in 1967 by the 101st Airborne
> Division's Tiger Force unit in the central highlands of
> South Vietnam.
>
> An official investigation, which was opened in 1971 at the
> instigation of an outraged soldier, found evidence of some
> 20 war crimes, he said. The allegations included murder,
> rape, mutilation and failure to report a war crime.
>
> But commanders concluded there was insufficient evidence to
> successfully try the case before a court martial, and the
> investigation was closed in 1975 with no charges made, the
> spokesman said.
>
> "From the documents that we had, the army did everything
> correctly," Burlas said.
>
> He said the statute of limitations at the time for crimes
> lesser than murder was two years and only three of the 18
> soldiers suspected of committing war crimes were still on
> active duty in 1975, he said. One of the three has since
> died, but the other two are members of the retired reserve.
>
> "Technically, they could be called back to active duty and
> prosecuted should there be new evidence," he said.
>
> But the Blade reported that six soldiers were allowed to
> resign during the investigation, putting them beyond the
> reach of military prosecution.
>
> Two soldiers who tried to stop the atrocities were warned by
> commanders to stay quiet before being transferred from the
> unit, the newspaper said.
>
> Sworn statements to army investigators, as well as
> interviews by the Blade, portray a unit on a rampage with
> the knowledge and encouragement of their commanders.
>
> The newspaper said women and children were intentionally
> blown up in underground bunkers and were practically buried
> alive in mass graves. Elderly farmers were shot as they
> worked in their fields.
>
> In one incident, a field commander, Lieutenant James
> Hawkins, allegedly shot and killed an elderly carpenter as
> he begged for his life.
>
> Hawkins denied it to army investigators, but in an interview
> with the Blade acknowledged killing the man because his loud
> cries would attract the enemy.
>
> "I eliminated that right there," he was quoted as saying.
>
> Four other soldiers told investigators there were other ways
> of silencing the man.
>
> Prisoners were tortured and executed while their ears and
> scalps were severed for souvenirs, the report said. One
> soldier kicked out the teeth of executed civilians for their
> gold fillings.
>
> "We would go into villages and just shoot everybody," a
> former Tiger Force medic, Harold Fischer, is quoted as
> saying. "We didn't need an excuse. If they were there, they
> were dead. It just made me sick."
>
> --
> Dan Clore
>
> Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
> http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm
>

Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...
Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...

> Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/
> News for Anarchists & Activists:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
> "It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
> *anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
> -- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
> _Detective Comics_ #608

Dan Clore wrote in message news:<3F949384.6050101@columbia-center.org>...
> News for Anarchists & Activists:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
> AFP
> Tuesday October 21, 6:28 AM
> Army defends probe of alleged Vietnam-era war crimes
>
> The US Army said it acted properly more than three decades
> ago in dropping an investigation into alleged war crimes by
> an elite army unit whose members were accused of killing and
> mutilating large numbers of civilians during the Vietnam War.
>
> A spokesman, however, said the army was looking into
> statements by veterans of the unit who were quoted over the
> weekend by the Toledo Blade, an Ohio newspaper, as admitting
> having killed civilians.
>
> "We're looking at the issue," said Joe Burlas, the
> spokesman. "It's not being ignored."
>
> The Blade reported that hundreds of civilians were killed
> over a seven-month period in 1967 by the 101st Airborne
> Division's Tiger Force unit in the central highlands of
> South Vietnam.
>
> An official investigation, which was opened in 1971 at the
> instigation of an outraged soldier, found evidence of some
> 20 war crimes, he said. The allegations included murder,
> rape, mutilation and failure to report a war crime.
>
> But commanders concluded there was insufficient evidence to
> successfully try the case before a court martial, and the
> investigation was closed in 1975 with no charges made, the
> spokesman said.
>
> "From the documents that we had, the army did everything
> correctly," Burlas said.
>
> He said the statute of limitations at the time for crimes
> lesser than murder was two years and only three of the 18
> soldiers suspected of committing war crimes were still on
> active duty in 1975, he said. One of the three has since
> died, but the other two are members of the retired reserve.
>
> "Technically, they could be called back to active duty and
> prosecuted should there be new evidence," he said.
>
> But the Blade reported that six soldiers were allowed to
> resign during the investigation, putting them beyond the
> reach of military prosecution.
>
> Two soldiers who tried to stop the atrocities were warned by
> commanders to stay quiet before being transferred from the
> unit, the newspaper said.
>
> Sworn statements to army investigators, as well as
> interviews by the Blade, portray a unit on a rampage with
> the knowledge and encouragement of their commanders.
>
> The newspaper said women and children were intentionally
> blown up in underground bunkers and were practically buried
> alive in mass graves. Elderly farmers were shot as they
> worked in their fields.
>
> In one incident, a field commander, Lieutenant James
> Hawkins, allegedly shot and killed an elderly carpenter as
> he begged for his life.
>
> Hawkins denied it to army investigators, but in an interview
> with the Blade acknowledged killing the man because his loud
> cries would attract the enemy.
>
> "I eliminated that right there," he was quoted as saying.
>
> Four other soldiers told investigators there were other ways
> of silencing the man.
>
> Prisoners were tortured and executed while their ears and
> scalps were severed for souvenirs, the report said. One
> soldier kicked out the teeth of executed civilians for their
> gold fillings.
>
> "We would go into villages and just shoot everybody," a
> former Tiger Force medic, Harold Fischer, is quoted as
> saying. "We didn't need an excuse. If they were there, they
> were dead. It just made me sick."
>
> --
> Dan Clore
>
> Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
> http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm
>

Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...
Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...

> Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/
> News for Anarchists & Activists:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
> "It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
> *anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
> -- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
> _Detective Comics_ #608


The Blade must be a Communit newspaper or at the very least an
anti-war and pro-cmmunist newspaper.
How could an elite military unit of the most civilized country's Army
in the world do things that even the 'savage' VCs were incapable of?

> ...

hbui99@msn.com (hbui):
> The Blade must be a Communit newspaper or at the very least an
> anti-war and pro-cmmunist newspaper.


Are you saying non-Communist newpapers are all in favor of
war? That may be so, but it seems like a pretty broad
claim.


> How could an elite military unit of the most civilized country's Army
> in the world do things that even the 'savage' VCs were incapable of?


Why not? And how do you know the Viet Cong weren't capable
of and performed similar acts? "War is hell", as General
Sherman said. And he ought to have known.


--

(<><>) /*/
}"{ G*rd*n }"{ gcf@panix.com }"{
{ http://www.etaoin.com | latest new material 1/19/03 <-adv't

When fighting with ghost, aka the vc, these things tended to happen.
Who wouldn't be pissed to the point of committing these "crimes" when
the cowards shot at you and disappeared into the civilians?

By the way, don't let hbui, the SCV's commie resident, spin the truth.
I bet his ass the vc is 1000 times more capable of doing what was
alleged here. Ask any non-spin, Vietnamese about vc's atrocities.

hochiminh, hbui adores my ass

hbui99@msn.com (hbui) wrote in message news:<568b7889.0310220701.79e0b178@posting.google.com>...
> Dan Clore wrote in message news:<3F949384.6050101@columbia-center.org>...
> > News for Anarchists & Activists:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
> >
> > AFP
> > Tuesday October 21, 6:28 AM
> > Army defends probe of alleged Vietnam-era war crimes
> >
> > The US Army said it acted properly more than three decades
> > ago in dropping an investigation into alleged war crimes by
> > an elite army unit whose members were accused of killing and
> > mutilating large numbers of civilians during the Vietnam War.
> >
> > A spokesman, however, said the army was looking into
> > statements by veterans of the unit who were quoted over the
> > weekend by the Toledo Blade, an Ohio newspaper, as admitting
> > having killed civilians.
> >
> > "We're looking at the issue," said Joe Burlas, the
> > spokesman. "It's not being ignored."
> >
> > The Blade reported that hundreds of civilians were killed
> > over a seven-month period in 1967 by the 101st Airborne
> > Division's Tiger Force unit in the central highlands of
> > South Vietnam.
> >
> > An official investigation, which was opened in 1971 at the
> > instigation of an outraged soldier, found evidence of some
> > 20 war crimes, he said. The allegations included murder,
> > rape, mutilation and failure to report a war crime.
> >
> > But commanders concluded there was insufficient evidence to
> > successfully try the case before a court martial, and the
> > investigation was closed in 1975 with no charges made, the
> > spokesman said.
> >
> > "From the documents that we had, the army did everything
> > correctly," Burlas said.
> >
> > He said the statute of limitations at the time for crimes
> > lesser than murder was two years and only three of the 18
> > soldiers suspected of committing war crimes were still on
> > active duty in 1975, he said. One of the three has since
> > died, but the other two are members of the retired reserve.
> >
> > "Technically, they could be called back to active duty and
> > prosecuted should there be new evidence," he said.
> >
> > But the Blade reported that six soldiers were allowed to
> > resign during the investigation, putting them beyond the
> > reach of military prosecution.
> >
> > Two soldiers who tried to stop the atrocities were warned by
> > commanders to stay quiet before being transferred from the
> > unit, the newspaper said.
> >
> > Sworn statements to army investigators, as well as
> > interviews by the Blade, portray a unit on a rampage with
> > the knowledge and encouragement of their commanders.
> >
> > The newspaper said women and children were intentionally
> > blown up in underground bunkers and were practically buried
> > alive in mass graves. Elderly farmers were shot as they
> > worked in their fields.
> >
> > In one incident, a field commander, Lieutenant James
> > Hawkins, allegedly shot and killed an elderly carpenter as
> > he begged for his life.
> >
> > Hawkins denied it to army investigators, but in an interview
> > with the Blade acknowledged killing the man because his loud
> > cries would attract the enemy.
> >
> > "I eliminated that right there," he was quoted as saying.
> >
> > Four other soldiers told investigators there were other ways
> > of silencing the man.
> >
> > Prisoners were tortured and executed while their ears and
> > scalps were severed for souvenirs, the report said. One
> > soldier kicked out the teeth of executed civilians for their
> > gold fillings.
> >
> > "We would go into villages and just shoot everybody," a
> > former Tiger Force medic, Harold Fischer, is quoted as
> > saying. "We didn't need an excuse. If they were there, they
> > were dead. It just made me sick."
> >
> > --
> > Dan Clore
> >
> > Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
> > http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm
> >

Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...
Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...

> > Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
> > http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/
> > News for Anarchists & Activists:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
> >
> > "It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
> > *anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
> > -- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
> > _Detective Comics_ #608
>
>
> The Blade must be a Communit newspaper or at the very least an
> anti-war and pro-cmmunist newspaper.
> How could an elite military unit of the most civilized country's Army
> in the world do things that even the 'savage' VCs were incapable of?

hbui wrote:
> Dan Clore wrote in message news:<3F949384.6050101@columbia-center.org>...
>>News for Anarchists & Activists:
>>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>>
>>AFP
>>Tuesday October 21, 6:28 AM
>>Army defends probe of alleged Vietnam-era war crimes
>>
>>The US Army said it acted properly more than three decades
>>ago in dropping an investigation into alleged war crimes by
>>an elite army unit whose members were accused of killing and
>>mutilating large numbers of civilians during the Vietnam War.
>>
>>A spokesman, however, said the army was looking into
>>statements by veterans of the unit who were quoted over the
>>weekend by the Toledo Blade, an Ohio newspaper, as admitting
>>having killed civilians.
>>
>>"We're looking at the issue," said Joe Burlas, the
>>spokesman. "It's not being ignored."
>>
>>The Blade reported that hundreds of civilians were killed
>>over a seven-month period in 1967 by the 101st Airborne
>>Division's Tiger Force unit in the central highlands of
>>South Vietnam.

[snip]

> The Blade must be a Communit newspaper or at the very least an
> anti-war and pro-cmmunist newspaper.
> How could an elite military unit of the most civilized country's Army
> in the world do things that even the 'savage' VCs were incapable of?

Sorry, no, the Toledo Blade is a mainstream, corporate
newspaper:
http://www.toledoblade.com/

--
Dan Clore

Now available: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://www.wildsidepress.com/index2.htm

Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...
Amazon.com: The Unspeakable and Others: Dan...

Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/
News for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

"It's a political statement -- or, rather, an
*anti*-political statement. The symbol for *anarchy*!"
-- Batman, explaining the circle-A graffiti, in
_Detective Comics_ #608