Just before it did, Eriksson moved away from the entrance to the hootch, where he had been standing, and sat down alone on the grassy turf to one side of the structure; periodically, he raised his field glasses to gaze at distant points. John J. TolsonMajor General, U.S.A. He might turn out to be dumb or brave or to have a wonderful stock of jokes. Thomas took Mao into a brushy area, and although he stabbed her three times with his hunting knife, he failed to kill her. And, in fact, Eriksson told me, a C.I.D. Eriksson saw Vorst shortly after the three soldiers left the company command post. Eriksson conceded, however, that the prospect of Meserves and Clarks freedom did disturb him. 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. The climb took longer than it had the day before, the mens pace slowed by the packs they bore. 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. At the time, Eriksson told me, he had no idea that the Captain had chewed them out. He does remember, though, that she had a prominent gold tooth, and that her eyes, which were dark brown, could be particularly expressive. Better relax about that Vietnamese girl, Eriksson. What if he refused to arrange an introduction for me? It was rustling. in his stead. 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. Each day, Eriksson said, he felt as though he were at war with war, a troublemaker out to undermine some careful, desperate code of survival. Rafe subsequently testified that the Sergeant was in an expansive mood, cheerfully observing to his men that it wasnt every day he could rate artillery support and have himself a woman as well. She was dead, Im sure., Immediately after the murder, Eriksson told me, the men appeared to assume a self-protective air of disbelief at what had taken place. The five men and Mao kept up a steady pace. She was pleased, she told me, that I had asked to hear about the episode involving Mao. An edition of Incident on Hill 192 (1970) Incident on Hill 192 by Daniel Lang 0 Ratings 0 Want to read 0 Currently reading 0 Have read Overview View 1 Edition Details Reviews Lists Related Books Publish Date 1970 Publisher Pan Books Language English Pages 124 This edition doesn't have a description yet. I told him I was being wrongly brought to trial. Arriving on the run, the two explained their errand to Clark, who heard the news eagerly, then pulled rank on Eriksson and ordered him to take his place in guarding the hootch. Im not talking about any specific case. That occurred in February, 1968, when Manuel was granted a retrial on the ground that although his C.I.D. What conclusions may be drawn from "The Incident on Hill 192," as the war crime was known at the time of the courts-martial? A. Oh, no, sir, it was not that he was disliked in any way. I couldnt tell whether it was Charlie or the girl, Rafe testified. Events happened fast that day, Eriksson said. They were alone this time, Eriksson told me, and when Eriksson inquired what progress there had been in the murder case, the Captain seemed not to hear but posed a series of questions. He didnt laugh and joke as much as the other guys did; he was much quieter, the sergeant said. It seemed like a deal, but why was it, Eriksson asked himself, that a captain should feel constrained to bargain with a lowly enlisted man? I saw him raise his rifle, Rafe stated, adding that he then started toward Clark. That was how my hunch went, and I didnt dare change it in any way. Eriksson moved cautiously. The prosecutor, it appeared, counted it a safe bet that the defense attorneys would attempt to portray Eriksson as some kind of repressed nut for having failed to join in the festivities on Hill 192. In the case of Manuel (the father of a three-month-old girl), this attitude of mystification became so palpable that the prosecutor finally inquired, Do you feel you are involved in any way in this rape and murder? To which Manuel replied No.. As the others clustered around it, Eriksson withdrew to the fringes of the circle, made uncomfortable by everyones purposeful curiosity. He said it would be good for the morale of the squad.. By then, too, the men were approaching the hamlet of Cat Tuong, in the district of Phu My, and Eriksson was cursing himself for having listened to Rowan. Are you afraid of Sergeant Meserve? Eriksson was asked at one point, and he replied, Thats affirmative, sir. There was little pattern to the verdicts, each of the juries indulging in its own vagaries. Storeby also recalled that Gervase claimed it would be "good for the morale of the squad. Manuel gave similar testimony. She ate, standing, and it was whimper, then eat, whimper, then eat. 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. The hootch contained a table, a low bench built against a wall, and tattered remnants of a straw mat strewn in a dark corner, and the dirt floor was littered with scrap metal, rocks, and cans. In the Army, he had discovered, that kind of action depended entirely on the discretion of ones superiorunless it was possible to figure out some way of bypassing him. . We had to answer to something, to someonemaybe just to ourselves., Before Eriksson saw the last of Fort Carson, he again acted as a witness for the government. In turn, the sergeant passed the news on to Lieutenant Reilly, who sent for Eriksson. But here was this Marine, who had put in much more combat service than Meserve or Clark or anyone else Id met, and he felt exactly as I did about the crime., Eriksson now fell into one of his silences, and I imagined he was contemplating the mystery of human character. rallied to the patrols defense that idea seemed less tenable. Q : Well, you feel you are not involved in any way? His plane was a commercial airliner, the Army having chartered it for a flight to Fort Lewis, Seattle, from which point the men, all of whom were going on leave, would be on their own. All that awaited decision, Meserve went on, was the moment and method of the girls murder, but, whatever was settled on, the Sergeants thought was to have Eriksson do the job; if Eriksson refused, Meserve said, he would be reported as K.I.A.killed in action. Fortunately, he said, his assignments involved no murder or rape cases. Yours was not an easy task, but you did your duty as an American soldier. In addition, Rafe flatly said, Eriksson could not see the girl, despite which, Rafe also testified, Eriksson stated, Oh, no, like he regretted that he had fired. Rafe himself let go with a burst from his M-16, which, inexplicably, caused his rifle to jam. 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. Before Eriksson was through, even his possession of a sense of humor became an issue. 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. At first, we all denied any knowledge about it. Of course, I was a foot soldier all this time. Besides, Eriksson said, none of the M.P.s at Fort Carson asked him about Maovery likely, he assumed, because they didnt connect him with her. Clark was holding her elbow, and he pushed her forward when Meserve ordered the patrol to get moving. [6] It was during those proceedings that the victim was identified by her sister as Phan Thi Mao. Eriksson was delighted with this duty, since he had had a passion for carpentry all his life. 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. Possibly because of his coperative attitude at the trials, Rafe was given the lightest termeight years, for the crimes of rape and unpremeditated murder. She had lain moldering there for three weeks and her body was badly decayed. . You never knew whose turn it was to die, and that isnt how it was in rear areas. Last winter, members of the Military Appeals Courtthe militarys highest appellate bodyhad decided that the admissions Rafe made in Vietnam were tainted; that is, like Manuel, he had made a confession without being fully informed of his rights. As far as he knew, he said, no legal developments were brewing in their behalfnot that it made much difference, he added, since he had learned just a few weeks earlier that Meserve and Clark stood to be declared eligible for parole before they had served even half their time at Fort Leavenworth. 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. It turned out to be a letter of commendation. Meserve at once radioed the platoon command, reaching Lieutenant Reilly, to whom he suggested that the V.C. 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. It took an hour to negotiate the climb, and the group had barely attained the ridge when Rafe, his eyes sweeping the vista below, saw five Vietnamese in peasant dress making their way along a mountain trail toward the paddy fields near the stream. June 17, 2022 . As for the defendants themselves, only Rafe showed contrition, the most striking manifestation of which was his decision to testify against Clark. It repeated itself in waves, broken only, Eriksson assumed, by Maos need to summon fresh breath. The day continued eventful. To be sure, there were a few individuals, like Rowan, who shared his outlook, but the great majority saw things the way their officers did. Lang's article for The New Yorker described the so-called "Incident on Hill 192" that involved the kidnapping, . Things will get sorted out, he said. This is how it is with Casualties of War, Brian DePalma's tale of an atrocity . Boyd had been a big help, he told me. The enemy did the same thing, and much of the evidence for this came from the Vietnamese themselves. 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. His manner became momentarily subdued when Meserve waved him in as the third man, but Clark was his jaunty self again when he returned. The pro-forma proceedings at Leavenworth took two days, at the conclusion of which the jury came in with a verdict of acquittal. Outside, according to the court record, Clark was watching his comrade through a hole in the mud faade and letting out whoops of delight that mingled with Maos cries. Thats where she is, he said with certainty. Here is the interchange between the executive officer and the prosecutor: Q: Do you feel there is a place in the United States Army for any murderers? But I couldnt think any of my brainstorms through. Eriksson did not have sexual intercourse or harm her in any way.) Meserve and Clark denied any wrongdoing, and the leader of the misbegotten patrol insisted that his motives had been misconstrued. I had to give one small child mouth-to-mouth respiration and bring her back to life. I said, Probably the firing squad, sir. He then said something to the effect, I could send you all back to the States for courts-martial, or he could court-martial us out here and still have a firing squad. Lying awake nights, listening to Asian birdsong and the squealing of monkeys in the jungle nearby, he said, he found himself constantly mulling over the phenomenon of military disciplinethe chain-of-command system. Only minor infractions came his way, but even such a routine chore as driving the drunk wagon down to Sin City could make him conscious of the sense of justice in himself that had been so tumultuously aroused the preceding November. said something to the effect, You people acted like animals up there and do not deserve to live. He said he would have never learned about this but one man had the balls to tell [the officers] about it. . It was an awkward moment, Eriksson said, and Clark terminated it. The only thing you could count on out there was that the unexpected would happen. Usually, Eriksson said, it took time for the unexpected to develop, but nowmore than half a day before the patrol was to leave platoon headquartersit happened with stunning abruptness. They were hard workers, those Vietnamese women picking little bananas, shinnying up palm trees for coconuts. De Palma handles this unsettling & disturbing fare with ruthlessness, making it an experience to remember. They lingered in it longer than they had in the other hootches, but since Eriksson was standing outside the hut he is unable to describe what went on inside. Please dont ask me to explain why they did it. [11], Likewise, Gervase's initial sentence of ten years with hard labor was reduced to eight. It excited me. Impatiently, Clark volunteered his services, but Meserve wouldnt have that, insisting that they collaborate. During his months leave, he was always with her and with relatives and friends and, in a way, Eriksson said, with Mao. Released from jail in a few hours, he found himself no longer a lone, underground accuser but, instead, a cog in an elaborate law-enforcement machine, whose purpose was to gather evidence, question suspects, and generally determine whether a case existed. In addition, Meserve learned that he was again to be the recipient of artillery support; in a short while, Reilly said, helicopter gunshipsaircraft equipped with rocket artillery and machine gunswould be in the area. They hadnt ever heard Maos voice or seen her carrying Manuels pack.. As he was leaving, he told me, the Captain called out reassuringly, Ill handle everything!, When Eriksson heard nothing from Vorst for four days, he sought an interview, which was granted. Impressed though he may have been, he heard Eriksson out with some skepticism, for before Kirk entered the Mormon priesthood he had spent ten years as a policeman on the Salt Lake City force. Had he stopped to think of the consequences to himself of accusing four fellow-G.I.sthereby adding to that suffering? Vorst was in the group, and Eriksson, detaching himself from his unit, went up to the Captain and told him about Mao. Besides, what if the four were court-martialled and found guilty? 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. . The incident on Hill 192 refers to the kidnap, gang rape, and murder of Phan Thi Mao, a young Vietnamese woman on November 19, 1966 by an American squad during the Vietnam War. . Im not saying that every fellow who roughed up a civilian liked himself for itnot that hed admit in so many words that he didnt. Needless to say, Eriksson continued, the kind of behavior he was describing was by no means limited to Americans. She had her black pajamas on. Q : You feel that the government has done you a grave injustice in bringing you here today for trial? One of the soldiers stabbed her three times, and when defense counsel challenged Eriksson at the court-martial proceedings to describe the sound that the stabbings made, he testified, Well, Ive shot deer and Ive gutted deer. Mao was ungagged but was given no food; noticing that she was flushed and coughing slightly, Meserve handed her an aspirin. In court, Rafe said that he found Mao naked, lying on the table, her hands bound behind her back. Looking back, Eriksson thinks that the small band of V.C. The whole thing made me sick to my stomach. Deciding that he was looking at a V.C., Rafe let fly with a couple of rounds from his M-16 rifle. 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. Invariably, Eriksson said, he found himself reproved for the deed. Q: Isnt it true you were so afraid you could hardly move? I was an inch too short. Somewhat gratefully, he went back to his prewar, and well-paid, job of cabinetmaking at the small department store. Meserve stated that we would get the woman for the purpose of boom boom, or sexual intercourse, and at the end of five days we would kill her. And in Manuels testimony one finds: After we were briefed by Meserve, he said that we would take a girl with us on patrol, or that we would try to take a girl with us to have some fun. Eriksson continued as an M.P., his duties generally less onerous than they had been in Vietnam, and his existence certainly more relaxed, since, as he observed to me, he was waking up every morning not only in his own country but in the presence of the Rockies. He had stopped the shooting as soon as he heard an American voice yell Hit it! Still fuming as the two patrols stood facing each other awkwardly, Erikssons sergeant declared that in all the time he had spent in Vietnam he had never before experienced any such mistake. As Eriksson waited for his sergeant to cool off, he idly scanned the men in the other squad, his eyes stopping abruptly when they met the expressionless gaze of a familiar face. Clark could knife the girl from the front, the Sergeant said, while he bayoneted her from behind; the body would then be tossed over a cliff from the summit of Hill 192, where the patrol had reconnoitred the previous day. Again according to Eriksson, Clark was given to quick movements and to seemingly abrupt decisions that reflected Meserves thinking in an exaggerated form. I had a feeling she had been injured in some waynot that I could tell. Lets kill her and get it over with, he said, according to the court record. . His reaction interested me, Eriksson said. On one occasion that he knew of, Eriksson said, American troops, attracted by the familiar odor of decomposing bodies, had found a pit piled high with Vietnamese men and women who had been machine-gunned by the V.C. He was brand-new. Based on the notorious Hill 192 Incident during the Vietnam War in 1966, De Palma's Casualties of War takes on a much more serious and difficult subject than any of his other efforts and as far as I can tell seems to be his most mature work to date. The young woman was abducted, not a prostitute. It was six in morning and dark. The father was away in Phu My market, the interpreter went on. He still has a tendency to fight off its memory, he said, and he thinks the reason for this is that although the experience he had may have revealed certain strengths in himself, he is far more concerned with the limitations it exposed. When I got up to the girl, I saw that her head was partially blown away, he testified. . also kidnapped, raped, murdered. Eriksson had never laid eyes on the chaplain before. According to Eriksson, Meserve, who was assertive and confident, was both the patrols youngest soldier and its most experienced one, being a volunteer of three years standing who had fought in Vietnam for a year and had been decorated several times; he was due to go back to the United States in a month. 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. Here, the C.O. In addition, the hootch served as a place to hide Mao. and wounding another. 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. Twenty minutes later, they knew what it was. Mao seemed to figure constantly in his thoughts, he said, which were concerned mostly with how he would earn his livelihood after he left the Army, the following April. Rafe had flouted the order against unnecessary shooting, confirming Erikssons observation that plans could mean little in the field and that out there any patrol was a unit only in theory. 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. That had to have some purpose. Anyway, thats what made me believe I was interested in religion. Wild with rage, Reilly had tried to wreck the place, whereupon hospital orderlies summoned the police, and the new father was arrested and jailed.
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