Nexus - 0220 - New Times Magazine-pages

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Navy and they put you in the Marines... L: Basically, it's along story. In May of 1967—1 think I've got L: Yeah! the documentation on that—the Marines were issued a new com- G: And you thought you were going to be an astronaut. Buton bat weapon in the field. It tums out that that particular weapon the phone you were telling me what actually happened when you _—was rejected by the Army prior to the time it was given to the were in Vietnam, how you figured out the purpose of the Military. Marines, and it was rejected because it doesn’t work. L: Well, basically what happened then, as the background, I To give you an example to back it up, the American Military is started out as a very naive person, but at least I was an adult—27, _run by the people who know nothing about combat, because if you 28. I guess I was 26 when I was drafted. And I was fully trained. know about combat you don't get into any operational jam. I was basically an adult. It was not like I was a brainwashed You've got to be able to avoid combat. Eisenhower was the Military automaton or that I was a young, impressionable boy. I __ world's best clerk. So when they procure weapons for combat was really an adult. And being "the wrong kind" of person, I was _ troops, they don't know what they need. A gun means a gun, and disposable. a «so they figure that John Wayne used a In other words, they figured, they always gun, so therefore it's okay. like to protect their own, like the Academy i The difficulty is that guns that are used graduates and somebody from West Point. It turns out that that for combat troops have to be very They'll try and keep them alive. But the durable. They have to be able to handle draftees and the rotten guys who don't fit, particular weapon was dramatic weather changes. They- have to they go to the front lines to die because they rejected by the Army prior be able to handle dir. They have to be are disposable. So I was one of the dispos- able to handle lots and lots of trauma. able types. to the time it was given to The American Military commanders So they shipped me out with a helicopter the Marines, and it was know nothing about what it's like to be in squadron in the Marine Corps. You know, combat because they've avoided it. So doing combat, Medevac, helicopter missions, rejected because it doesn’ t they don't know that you get dirty! and it was absolute hell. work." So this weapon sounded great on paper G: What is Medevac? in that it had a .22 calibre projectile— L: You probably don't and hopefully will that's high velocity—and when it entered, never know about what Medevac is. ame it had a very small entry wound and it G: You go out into the field and pick up the wounded with the would tumble, so when you opened the guy up, it was hamburger. helicopter? So it was a very, very potent weapon. The difficulty was that it L: Right. Basically it was absolutely asinine. You'd go out just didn't work. After you popped off about five or six rounds in after people in the middle of a firefight and, you know, the heli- _rapid fire, it would jam. copter is incredibly vulnerable. They'd shoot these guys up just so It was rejected not only by the Army but also by the local police they'd bring the helicopters in, and fire them out of the sky. forces for that reason, and you can imagine that a policeman is not The Army was logical. The Marine Corps wasn't. The Marine _ going to be like a combat trooper in the boonies. But they gave it Corps are wonderful pcople and I love them dearly, and I'm gladI _to these kids, and it was the Third Marine Division, the First was with them because I wouldn't be alive without them, but —_ Battalion, Ninth Regiment, that was up there at the north-western they're nuts. I mean, they're just nuts. They die like flies. These corner of Viemam. It's a very well-documented story. guys will go into anything, anywhere, at any time. And it's just Basically, they ran into the first group of the North Vietnamese nuts. Regular Army. I think it was the 110th Division. It was a whole G: You told me on the phone about the weapons not being ade- _ division, like 10,000 guys. And they ran into this division, with quate. tanks and all that. They started with a patrol, then they went to a battalion, and then they went to larger groups, and what cog was happening was that the weapon wasn't working. “| The kids were given the M-16, and the M-14 was taken away from them. The M-14 was a pretty good rifle. It wasn't great, but it was good rifle. It was being used since the Korean War or shortly after the Korean War, and it pl was well worked out. ~ These kids were in active combat with this weapon that siz @ |thing like a a baseball bat. That's all they had. So the enemy would shoot ‘em in the pelvis so they'd die slowly, or they'd shoot 'em in the legs. You know, the kids were trying to drag a buddy out, so they'd shoot the buddies. A big joke was that one of the enemy stole one of the Marine's rifles and got into a spider hole; he then got up and smiled, and then tried to spray these kids and his gun jammed—and so they blew his head off with an M-79. So everyone was laughing because the "gook" got it because of Colt Industries’ weapon. You know, they said, "The M- 16 is our best weapon. Give them to the enemy and we're in great shape!" But, you know, this was absolute hell. G: Is that what made you begin to think about how all quate. 30°NEXUS JUNE - JULY 1994