incident on hill 192 where are they now

Did Eriksson know that military judges and jurors were notoriously lenient in their sentencing? Incident on Hill 192 - The New York Times Incident on Hill 192 By Christopher Lehmann-Haupt Nov. 14, 1969 The New York Times Archives See the article in its original context from November 14,. The man was never captured, Eriksson said, despite the fact that he became the single target of the gunships rockets and the infantrys bullets and grenades. That guy, hes scared of doing this, hes scared of doing that. Everybody is going to make fun of you. And, in fact, Eriksson told me, a C.I.D. It did not occur in the United States. Technically, I myself was a suspect, Eriksson told me. wouldnt let me become a door gunner, Eriksson told me. The first of them, he told me, was that Mao woke up less alluring than when she had gone to bed. At the time, Eriksson told me, he had no idea that the Captain had chewed them out. Eriksson never exchanged a word with her; neither spoke the others language. Throughout each trial, Eriksson said, the exponents of military law strove diligently to apply judicial rules largely borrowed from civilian law, as though they were seeking to re-create a semblance of civilian life. 1. A good nights rest might do wonders for Maos health, he pointed out, in which case he, for one, wouldnt mind revisiting her in the morning. Eriksson was bound for Minnesota, for a month at home before his discharge in the spring, but when his plane put down at Seattle he found that he was ten dollars short for the final leg of his journey. They send you reeling from the theatre. Had he stopped to think of the consequences to himself of accusing four fellow-G.I.sthereby adding to that suffering? To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, Like their predecessors in all wars, American veterans of the Vietnamese campaign who are coming home to civilian life have their heads filled with memories that may last the rest of their days, for, no matter how far from the front a man may have spent his time as a soldier, he will remember it as a special time, when, fleetingly, his daily existence appeared to approach the heroic. This morning, Manuel carried his own. . As far as he was concerned, Eriksson said, it had all seemed a morass of cleverness, but then, he conceded, he may well have entered the military courtroom in the Central Highlands, where the four trials were held, with unwarranted expectations, for it had been his hope that the trials would help him unravel his reactions to Maos fate. Recurrently, the court records show, witnesses found it deplorable that the defendants should have to fight for their survival in a prisoners dock when they might be far better employed doing that on the battlefield; in their every utterance these witnesses reflected the view that losing soldiers of Meserves calibre could result only in gaining a stronger enemy. Undeterred by Erikssons denial, the lawyer persevered with his line of questioning. You Are Here: ross dress for less throw blankets apprentissage des lettres de l'alphabet incident on hill 192 where are they now. The men found her feverish and coughing, and Clark was all for rescheduling her death hour to that evening. The following day, in the midst of a firefight with the Viet Cong, Thomas and Gervase became worried that the woman would be seen with the squad. Nor could the concern that the C.O. I told him I was being wrongly brought to trial. He hopes to open a small carpentry shop of his own in several years, but, ideally, he would like to be a farmera career that he doubts he will ever be able to afford. All the others in the patrol had raped or killed her. . Q: Why did you want other members of the squad to think you were a rapist? I realize that we are over here fighting a war, but to go out and kill an innocent person has nothing to do with the war., Accused of shrewdness in seeking to evade infantry duty, Eriksson found himself also accused of a lack of shrewdness in failing to let Mao escape when he was alone with her in the hootch. Manuel showed no initiative in that regard, Eriksson told me, his attitude toward authority being simple and automatic: he heeded it devoutly. We would be fools to think those men couldnt do again what they did before., He would never cease to condemn the members of the patrol personally for their crime, Eriksson said, but that didnt mean they were beyond pity. While Eriksson, Manuel, and the now wretched Rafe hovered outside, Meserve and Clark entered the hutMaos home. She herself had thus far been the only person with whom her husband had discussed it since returning from Vietnam, and even with her he had not gone into much detail. Why make all this effort to dismiss the death of an unknown peasant girl if it werent that the C.O. I saw that Clark had his hunting knife hidden in one of his hands. It was in the next seconds that deer-gutting sounds issued from the bushes. And then there was Vorsts invitation to Eriksson to transfer out of the company. John J. TolsonMajor General, U.S.A. Some Vietnamese people were bringing children out of. fellows knew about law, Eriksson said. 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. He was all of seven when he was driving a tractor on the farm. I saw him raise his rifle, Rafe stated, adding that he then started toward Clark. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Bunkers, trenches, trails that were not marked on maps, caches of enemy equipmentthese, too, were to be reconnaissance objectives. It was the same sentence he had been serving, but now, having been transformed into a new verdict, it was subject to another review, the effects of which soon worked to Rafes advantage, for in August, 1969, the commanding general at Fort Leavenworth shortened his term to twenty-two months. Youre hurt, I can see, but how are you? Below was a valley with a winding stream, and along its banks were paddy fields with neat little dikes around them. As the men had raced to get there, clambering and sliding, Rafe had slipped and fallen from a ledge, dislocating an elbow and a shoulder. He told me that beatings were commonrandom, routine kicks and cuffings that he saw G.I.s administer to the Vietnamese. A: No, sir, Ive got nothing against the government. Ad Choices, He wanted never to be away from her. see review David rated it liked it Nov 11, 2021 Glen rated it liked it Jan 29, 2014 At four-thirty the following morning, Meserve diligently checked his mens gear at the edge of camp, seeing to it that their chow, star clusters, rounds of ammunition, smoke and hand grenades, and other supplies were in order. Once this was done, the patrol filed out of the camp in the faintly humid darkness, the men still uncertain of their leaders intent. We just tell them to dee deemeaning to go away. The soldiers set up a night watch, each man pulling guard duty outside in the moonlight, alert for any lurking enemy. Storeby also recalled that Gervase claimed it would be "good for the morale of the squad. Unreasonably, he granted, he had come into court with the idea that he and the others on hand would wonder aloud, in a kind of corporate searching, how it was possible for the young girl to meet the end she did. Calmly and easily, he told Eriksson about an experience that he had undergone three years earlier, when he drove his wife, also a Negro, to an Alabama hospital to have their first child. Subjects As the others clustered around it, Eriksson withdrew to the fringes of the circle, made uncomfortable by everyones purposeful curiosity. His persistence in reporting the crime to higher authorities eventually resulted in general courts-martial against his four fellow squad mates. Meserve, however, counselled patience. De Palma handles this unsettling & disturbing fare with ruthlessness, making it an experience to remember. 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. As if Sven had it so easy! Mrs. Eriksson said to me when she heard of these findings. All that many of us could think at such times was that we were fools to be ready to die for people who defecated in public, whose food was dirtier than anything in our garbage cans back home. Thats where she is, he said with certainty. View Source Suggest Edits Memorial Photos Flowers Created by: TrentLane Added: 26 Aug 2021 Find a Grave Memorial ID: 231233841 Sponsored by Jennifer Brown Source citation The evidence gained as a result of the two field trips played an important part in the judicial proceedings, Eriksson told me. His manner became momentarily subdued when Meserve waved him in as the third man, but Clark was his jaunty self again when he returned. I listened to Svens story with a cops ear, the chaplain said. Their testimony indicates that they were so inured to the epidemic, occupational violence of war that they found it hard to recognize their judicial plight as a type of retribution. . Occasionally, official orders were used for justifying gratuitous acts of violence. Perhaps because Meserve had been the leader of the four accused, he came in for particularly heavy praise. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. In 1989 Brian De Palma directed the film Casualties of War, which was based on Lang's book. That this weak, coughing girl had overpowered me? whose ammunition pouch, girding his midriff, had exploded as the result of a hit. 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. about Mao, and three times he used itIll handle everything, Ill handle everything, Ill handle everything. Maybe he did, but not in a way that had anything to do with anyones making amends. At his meeting with Vorst the day of the Captains return, he went on, he noticed thatlike Reilly, who was presentthe company commander failed to deplore the murder, and instead stressed its potentialities as a scandal. However, he welcomed the shift to Radcliff for a more important reason. 1/4 Fifty-four years ago today four US army soldiers murdered Phan Thi Mao, whom they had kidnapped and gang-raped in what is now called the incident on hill 192. en.wikipedia.org. But. For protective custody, they said., From that point on, Erikssons life in the Army was radically changed. 2023 Cond Nast. It turned out to be a letter of commendation. Q: Did he endeavor to actively join in with the free-time activity of the rest of the people, or did he have to be coaxed. making slow progress toward the refuge of the cave complex, which was three hundred metres away, almost at the bottom of the ravine. Eriksson had never laid eyes on the chaplain before. If hed kept quiet, he would have been impossible to live with., Regardless of when Meserve and Clark get out, Eriksson thinks, the atmosphere of civilian life may exert a moderating influence on their outlook. Hey, Sven, how do you know that girl wasnt a V.C. now had to do with law enforcement, for he was reassigned to the 545th Military Police Company at Camp Radcliff, in which outfit he guarded high-ranking officers, pulled gate duty, made periodic sweeps of the base area for signs of infiltrating V.C., and, every day at 4 P.M., climbed into the drunk wagon, which was an M.P. There was little pattern to the verdicts, each of the juries indulging in its own vagaries. Despite threats against his life by the soldiers who took part in the rape and murder, Storeby was determined to see the soldiers punished. (He got a break. But the assertion was a hard one to prove, for Rafe was on hand to testify that Eriksson was so situated in that feverish moment that Mao wasnt even in his line of vision. Instead, to Erikssons astonishment, Reilly chose that moment to offer a reminiscence. She had the spark of life., The Oddballs and Odysseys of Charles Portis. The two have no children. As Manuel was going into the hootch, Maos sounds could he heard, weak and conquered. The next thing I knew, I was in jail, Eriksson told me. The incident on Hill 192 is the name the United States Army called the kidnapping, gang rape, and murder of Phan Thi Mao, a young Vietnamese woman on November 19, 1966 by an American squad during the Vietnam War. Since the patrol would be going out again, Eriksson said, he knew he had to act fast, but that seemed no big deal. At first, the chain of command, including the company commander, took no action. agents, lawyers, and ballistics and firearms specialists. But, as Eriksson unhesitatingly acknowledges, the fact is that when he thinks of his tour of duty in Vietnam it is always a single image that comes to his mind. agent, poking through leaves with a bayonet, found teeth, finger bones, and yet more bullet fragments, all of which he deposited in a plastic bag. She was the big thing that had happened in the war for me, he told me. agents, photographers, a firearms expert, and a ballistics man. The two other G.I.s in the combat team were a year younger than Eriksson, who was then twenty-two. I knew I wouldnt rest until something was done about Maos murder. Then the C.O. No such thing happened. He was asked, Couldnt you have thought up a story [for Meserve] to the effect that you heard some noises or heard some V.C. Casualties of War is based on Daniel Lang's news report on the Incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War. She has a gold tooth! Instantly, the Sergeant said, Thats the girl well find. Astounded by the enormity of his own suggestion, Rafe looked miserably at Manuel and Eriksson as Meserve and Clark, quickening their steps, made for the white hootch that contained the pretty girl with a gold tooth. With me, he said, he trusted he would be able to go into these matters freely, but he had early discovered that in a court of law they were of little interest. Eriksson had considered the jutting and twisted rock a highly unusual one, but now, refamiliarizing himself with his surroundings, he saw, to his surprise, that it had a practically identical twin close by. A few rare films stun the senses. Returning to the patrols briefing, Eriksson told me that Meserve was all business as he plunged into his talk. Things will get sorted out, he said. Category. Looking back, Eriksson thinks that the small band of V.C. The incident on Hill 192 refers to the kidnapping, gang rape, and murder of Phan Thi Mao, a young Vietnamese woman, on November 19, 1966 by an American squad during the Vietnam War. It happened when the Sergeant, having delivered his instructions, concluded the briefing by telling the assembled men that they were going to have a good time on the mission, because he was going to see to it that they found themselves a girl and took her along for the morale of the squad. For five days, the Sergeant said, they would avail themselves of her body, finally disposing of it, to keep the girl from ever accusing them of abduction and rapeboth listed as capital crimes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Eriksson and four other enlisted men were then on a reconnaissance patrol in the vicinity of the girls home. It was maddening, Eriksson said, to realize that military discipline threatened to make Mao its victim again, just as it had on Hill 192, when all that certified Meserves orders was his rank as sergeant. Ordering Eriksson and Rafe to clean up the hootch, and leaving Mao in their charge, the Sergeant went off with Clark and Manuel to have a careful look around. No such dismay was expressed. We were each acting the way we had to, he told me. Cross-examining, the prosecutor asked, When you say he didnt have a sense of humor, you mean he wasnt a jokester, running around making or seeing the funny side of everything?. Film rights were bought by David Susskind who was to produce the film for Warner Bros. Pete Hamill wrote a script and Jack Clayton was to direct. He was twenty-two, a stringbean in physique, and blond, with eyes that were a pale, cold blue. Time and again, at chow or during a break out in the field, someone would tell him (as Vorst had told him) that it was pointless to throw good lives after bad by having Meserve and the others up on charges, since (as Reilly had said) violence was the language of war, and, naturally, it could not always be controlled. They found the company commander, who had himself only just returned, waiting impatiently to confront them with Erikssons report. Eriksson was fond of his uncle, Mrs. Eriksson said, but, reluctantly, he answered, Im afraid I dont want to talk about her., When Erikssons leave was over, he finished out his two-year hitch at Fort Carson, Colorado, where many of the men were either completing their service, like him, or departing for war. In his cell, Reilly went on, he had made plans to shoot various officials at the hospital, but when he was finally released he gave up the idea of vengeance. The C.I.D. You could never tell how a man was going to behave under pressure, Eriksson said. All he need do, he believed, was report that they had committed rape and murder, and the military authorities would investigate with the same alacrity that civilian authorities are expected to show in such situations. Rowan listened with astonishment as Eriksson apprised him of the Sergeants plan, but when Eriksson asked his friend whether he thought Meserves statements should be reported to an officer before the patrol left camp, Rowan immediately shook his head, replying, as the court record shows, Meserve wouldnt dare do such a fool thing. This incredulity notwithstanding, the news of Meserves briefing left Rowan unhappy. He is now on duty as a soldier in the United States while awaiting further word on his case, which since September has been in the hands of a board of review. It might have influenced my thinking if Id had that information, but Im not sure. Reilly was aware that if it came to public knowledge it would tarnish the image of the officers commanding the platoon, the company, the battalion, perhaps even the regiment; the officers might be made to appear incapable of controlling the conduct of the men in their commands. All right, go ahead, Meserve said, and he instantly turned his attention to the enemy, ordering Eriksson to the lower ledge of rock while he and Manuel returned to the upper one, with Rafe to their rear. The thought of them, he said, makes him feel discouraged at times about his future, which, he pointed out, could be a long one. They were just doing their job. Once the pair had assessed the gravity of the crimes being charged, they moved swiftly.

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