I kneeled and fired

From: altamontvet@my-deja.com (altamontvet@my-deja.com)
Subject: Interesting stupidvet Posts
This is the only article in this thread
View: Original Format
Newsgroups: alt.war.vietnam
Date: 2000/04/24


In article <36b7d832.54111856@news.memes.com>,
patrick@memes.com wrote:
> On Wed, 03 Feb 1999 02:41:10 GMT, troopervet@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> >Bill
> >I was a sniper.
>
> A couple of minutes ago you were a point man. I suppose if I told you
> you are a hermaphrodite and told you to go fuck yourself you would
> take it seriously?
>
> Sniper's don't run point,. idiot.
> >troopervet

This was during my second tour, idiot. But even then, I sometimes
walked
point. My rifle was an M-14 w/scope and had the selector switch which
made
it a fully automatic weapon. On one occasion, I was walking point and
there
were some civilians walking down a railroad track. My platoon leader
said,
"Step it up and catch them." I walked as fast as I could but could
not
gain
on them. Then the Lt said, "Stop them." I replied, "How sir?". He
said, "I
said, stop them!". I kneeled and fired on automatic. I stopped them.

troopervet

In article <78rsil$ng7@dfw-ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>,
"Edward Combs" wrote:
> It always sad to see sad things happen. I bet Tojo's 90 year old mother
> cried when we hung him,
>
> I was not there to look under her dress to see EXACTLY what kind of ordnance
> she had under there. When I heard about it I just thought "Gee! How many
> times had I bought Orange soda from that kid? That could have been me hurt
> or dead."
>
> As far a cold...if I had my way I would even kill the grown-ups, but when
> the enemy all ware Black PJs and can range in age from 9 to 99 then assuming
> every one is a VC is not a bad way to stay alive.

When will the US learn that you can't fight an ideal. An Army - OK -
but
genocide? That's what it would have taken. Anyone was capabable of
being
our actual enemy (with weapons that is).

Rusty Calley said: "I didn't know communism had an age or sex." He
was
right. Genocide was the only way to "win" that war. Our government
should
have never put us in there.

What did the US accomplish in Somalia? Did they not learn?

troopervet


> I had thought of Dean Shultis as a friend (as much as anyone on here
> can be a friend).
> Lee

Lee I needed someone to put out the name Rusty. I would have told you
my
name later and was about to when I got 2 emails pleading me to not
reveal
who I was, because of possible danger to my family. Yes, at the end,
I
spun
off a few lies to postpone the enevitable recognition of my identity.
Most
of what I wrote to you was true, however. Perhaps it was bad advice,
but I
took it never- the-less. And, this I regret - having deceived you.

Going back aways, I would guess you were one of the first to start the
flaming of troopervet. The point that some of you will never get is
that
you attract trolls and, in my case, you created one. Troopervet
became
what
the group wanted him to become. Troopervet was your creation - not
mine!

dino


I was in 3 different units in Vietnam. I wasn't talking about just
one
platoon. I'm saying shit happened everywhere (I'm not saying all the
time)-
you guys are saying, oh that was just a little isolated incident. It
was
war. Dirty things happen in every war.
I did what everyone else did when put in the same situation. I did
not
ask
to go there and NO ONE else that I knew (and I knew a hell of a lot)
wanted
to be there. But of course AWV is a collection of great heroes that
wanted
to save the world from communism and clawed at the chance to get those
commies? I'm not that stupid - thank you. The war sucked and yes I do
blame
the government. That's not projecting!
Many of you do not have a balanced view. The trolls come in here and
you
all say we didn't do this or that, and I know damn well some of you
did
because you've told me so. The trolls are not that stupid (well maybe
some
of them are).
This is not about me - it is about all of you. And yes, this group
made
troopervet into a troll. They wanted it - they begged for it. I had
absolutely no intentions of becoming a troll - troopervet was not my
invention - he became what the group wanted him to become.

dino

No amount of training can ever prepare a person for close-in combat.
I'm
writing about in-your-face fighting. I still find it amazing what
went
on
in my head in a fraction of a second. I actually had time to think -
it was
not always instintive - I was taking a persons life - sure - it was he
or
I - but I still had time to think - and those thoughts never leave.
Now -
what exactly constitutes the enemy - someone who is trying to kill
you?
Yes - there was so much hatred in the 173rd that officers literally
tried
to kill their own men. It went beyond being stupid or indifferent - it
was
murder. So, when the opportunity arose - the enlisted men did what
they
thought they needed to do to survive. It was totally insane.


troopervet

Obviously, you were never in combat. A wounded soldier can kill you
as
quickly as a non-wounded soldier. Even when I was a police officer in
the
US, I was taught the same - shoot to kill. Dead people do not shoot
back.
Period I don't know where you guys dig this crap up at.

troopervet

Thank you for your honesty. A rare individual here indeed.

What I am saying is that it was not all that uncommon and I personally
never
heard of an investigation. The Army was too fucking lazy to bother.
They
zipped the sucker up and sent him back. Period.

I hate reiterating a point but no one received severe punishment
involving
the My Lai massacre. In fact I didn't know what all was involved
there
until John Tegtmeier emailed me specific information, such as teenage
girls
having their genitals cut out with a knife. Of course we've all seen
the
children lying in the ditch and.....

Is it more important that Americans were murdered than Vietnamese?

Please relate your priorities.

troopervet


I honestly am not familiar with Ridenhour - that is why I did not
comment
on him. Yes, you did acknowledge that US troops committed murder.
That has
been documented. What I am saying is that murder was commited that
only one
person or a few ever knew about it. The body was considered a KIA -
no
investigation. Period. Have you ever been in a firefight? Who in
the
hell
knows who killed who? Some of our guys got shot in the back
accidently
by
frightened trigger happy soldiers. After a firefight, it was just a
matter
of policing up the bodies. No one investigated shit.

dino