Bob,

On D-Day twenty some paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st refused to jump. During several battles in WW II soldiers dropped their weapons and ran. Only one soldier was shot during the war. He was shot as an example and a warning. How many bone headed commanders who screwed up royaly and got hundreds of men killed were shot? Not one. They were relieved of command and sent home. How many American soldiers died because of General Montgomery? That self serving bastard did even thing in his power to make himself look good and how many died before he actual took Cain? He said he would be there on D-Day but he never got there intil D-Day plus 10. Operation-Market garden was also his bone headed idea. The only thing that accomplished was getting 10,000 troops killed or captured.

The same could be said about B/3/8. They were part of the 1st Brigade who had been stuck in the Dak To, Kontum area for the entire 5 years the 4th Infantry was in Nam. The year prior to the assault into Cambodia that unit fought in the Plei-Trap Valley. I don't know if you ever heard about Operation Wayne Grey but lots of people died in that shit hole.

By that time the war was a joke. We were going into that place one last time before we turned the area over to the ARVINs.Maybe they thought why should we die for them. To be honest there were times when I thought we were fighting the wrong people. The North was committed to their cause. The South could care less and all they wanted was our money. Want to buy an ARVIN weapon? Brand new. Only dropped once.

They should have brought in front of the court, and punished. But not shot. There should have been a lot more in Washington shot before any poor dog-face. I spent almost twenty months in Nam and seventeen of them in the gun well of a Huey. There were many times I was scared to death and would have really liked to say no. We fought our war above the trees and at night we got to return to base camp. Those guys were in the war 24/7/365. I know I could not have done that kind of tour. That's why I joined so I would not have to go into the infantry.

I guess what I am trying to say is you need to hear the whole story before you can make the judgement. The world is full of some really evil son of a bitches and we have lawyers flocking to protect their rights. They fight to keep them alive so why would we condemn a 21 year old draftee who only wants to get home? I am sorry to go off like this but the bastards in Washington sold us out. The military leaders abandoned us and our generation deserted us. It's taken thirty years for the Vietnam Veterans to be accepted. It took less time for the draft dodger to get home then it did for me to admit I was in Nam. Maybe if we first shot all the ones which deserve to be shot then we can start with the rest. What do you think?