5 - This Is What We Do (July 1967 - December 1967) - Escalation, Atrocity, and the Coming Tet Preparation for the Tet Offensive

Veteran Perspectives on the Atrocities and Adaptation of War

• Psychological Adaptation: Soldiers arriving in Vietnam underwent a fundamental shift in mindset. Experiences of war, including killing and witnessing death, led to a psychological hardening referred to as adapting to atrocities.

• Institutional Mantra: Veterans recall being conditioned through the phrase "This is war. This is what we do." This served as a justification and a mental framework for actions that would otherwise be questioned, eventually leading to the total embrace of the environment of violence.

• Initial Questioning: Early arrivals to the war often questioned the conduct of marines and the nature of the conflict, but were quickly silenced or redirected by the overarching military necessity of the mission.

The Strategic Situation in Summer $1967$

• Official Optimism: In the summer of $1967$, the American military command (MACV) and political leaders remained outwardly optimistic. They claimed dramatic progress was being made, particularly in breaking the Vietcong's grip on the population.

• The Crossover Point: MACV claimed to have killed $200,000$ enemy troops. Military leaders informed President Lyndon B. Johnson that the "crossover point"—the moment when U.S. and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) forces were killing more enemy combatants than could be replaced—had been reached in almost all of South Vietnam.

• Casualty Realities: Despite the optimistic reports, by $\text{July 4}, 1967$, the United States had suffered nearly $75,000$ casualties, with $14,624$ Americans confirmed dead.

• Dissenting Views: Off-the-record accounts from many officers were less sanguine. R.W. Apple of The New York Times summarized these views, writing that victory might be "beyond reach."

• Nature of Combat: While the enemy rarely won battles in the traditional sense of driving Americans from the field, battered enemy units were quickly reinforced and rearmed, rendering American tactical victories seemingly irrelevant.

Domestic Turmoil and the Political Landscape

• Failed Pacification: Efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of the South Vietnamese people were failing. The Saigon government controlled only a fraction of the country (roughly the size of Florida) and remained unpopular and corrupt.

• Economic Strain: President Johnson was forced to raise taxes to cover the escalating costs of the war, leading to a retreat in his "War on Poverty" and other ambitious social programs.

• Racial Unrest in America: The summer of $1967$ saw severe racial rioting in American cities.

  • Detroit: Five days of rioting resulted in $43$ deaths and hundreds of buildings razed, requiring the deployment of the U.S. Army.

  • Newark, New Jersey: $26$ people died in civil unrest.

• Public Opinion: Only $1/3$ of the U.S. population saw progress in the war, while $1/2$ disapproved of President Johnson's handling of the conflict.

North Vietnamese Planning and Strategy

• Le Duan's Agenda: In Hanoi, Le Duan and his comrades were secretly planning a new strategy called the "General Offensive, General Uprising."

• Objectives: The goal was to destroy the "puppet government" in Saigon and convince the U.S. that the war could never be won on the battlefield.

• The Pentagon Computer Myth: An apocryphal story from $1967$ claims the Pentagon fed all quantifiable data (ships, planes, artillery, ammo) into a mainframe to calculate when the war would be won. The output card reportedly read, "You won in 1965," illustrating that the computer failed to account for the enemy's resilience.

U.S. Troop Demographics and Cultural Norms

• Force Distribution: By mid-$1967$, there were nearly $500,000$ American soldiers in Vietnam, but only $20\%$ were in combat units; the remaining $80\%$ served in support roles.

• Cultural Disconnect: Most troops were taught little about the Vietnamese people. This led to the pervasive use of racial slurs and derogatory terminology:

  • Gooks: A term previously used by Marines in Haiti, Nicaragua, and Korea.

  • Slopes/Dinks: Epithets carried over from the Pacific War and Australian slang.

  • Hooches: A corruption of the Japanese word for dwellings, used for Vietnamese homes.

  • Mama sans: A term borrowed from occupied Japan for older women or those running brothels.

• Enemy Perception: The Vietcong and North Vietnamese referred to GIs as "Zoc Mi" (American bandits) and "imperialist invaders."

Tactical Zones and Combat Operations

• IV Corps (Mekong Delta): The "Brownwater Navy" patrolled rivers and marshes searching for the enemy in densely populated regions.

• III Corps: The U.S. Army continued sweeps in the "Iron Triangle," a Vietcong sanctuary near Saigon.

• II Corps (Central Highlands): Bloody battles around Dak To temporarily drove the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) into Cambodia and Laos.

• I Corps (Northern South Vietnam): The heaviest combat occurred here, where the 3rd Marine Division faced the NVA regulars. General Victor Krulak argued the "real war" was among the people in the valleys, while General Westmoreland focused on the mountainous borders.

• Border Strong Points: Westmoreland established a series of bases and strong points to monitor the Ho Chi Minh Trail: Dong Ha, Gio Linh, Con Thien, Cam Lo, Camp Carroll, The Rock Pile, and Khe Sanh.

Weaponry and Equipment Flaws

• AK-47 vs. M16: The NVA carried the Soviet-made AK-$47$, which veterans described as indestructible. In contrast, the newly issued American M$16$ rifle had a fatal design flaw, frequently jamming during firefights and requiring constant cleaning.

• Veterans' Contempt: Soldiers expressed pure hatred for the M$16$, calling it a "piece of [garbage]" that failed when they needed to defend themselves.

Personal Accounts of Combat: John Musgrave

• Transformation: Musgrave joined the Marines to be in the "varsity" (the 3rd Marine Division). He experienced extreme terror and hatred for the enemy, which he reconciled by "turning a subject into an object."

• The "Deal with the Devil": After witnessing a marine die on a "Bouncing Betty" mine, Musgrave vowed to never kill another "human being" but promised to "waste," "wax," or "smoke" as many "gooks" as possible—a coping mechanism for sanity.

• The Marketplace Ambush ($\text{July 2}, 1967$):

  • An ambush northeast of Con Thien virtually annihilated one company.

  • Casualties: $53$ dead, $190$ wounded carried off; $34$ dead left behind.

  • Atrocities: Upon returning to the site, marines found that many of their fallen comrades had been executed at close range, booby-trapped, or mutilated after their M$16$s jammed.

South Vietnamese Political Developments

• 1967 Elections: Under U.S. pressure, South Vietnam held elections on $\text{September 3}, 1967$.

• Thieu and Ky: Internal power struggles between Nguyen Van Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky were resolved after U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker warned that struggle would not be tolerated. Thieu became President and Ky Vice President, winning with only $35\%$ of the vote.

• Political Integrity: Anti-war candidates were barred from running, and many Buddhists boycotted the election. Despite this, the State Department praised the result as a step toward stability.

The Anti-War Movement and Domestic Dissent

• Student Shifts: Eva Jefferson and Jack Todd describe a rapid transformation in the student population. Todd, who originally trained as a Marine officer at Camp Upshur, turned against the war by $1967$ due to lack of progress and news images.

• The March on the Pentagon ($\text{October 1967}$):

  • $50,000$ people marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon.

  • Protesters confronted active-duty military, seeing them as victims and the government as the enemy.

  • Some groups attempted to "levitate" the building while others were more militant.

• LBJ's Reaction: President Johnson directed the CIA and FBI (under J. Edgar Hoover) to find communist ties to the protest. Hoover claimed many protesters were "mentally diseased."

• Political Challenge: Allard Lowenstein searched for a Democrat to challenge LBJ. After being rejected by Robert Kennedy and George McGovern, he convinced Senator Eugene McCarthy to run in the primaries.

War Crimes and the Tiger Force Investigation

• Dennis Stout's Account: Stout, an army reporter, covered the "Tiger Force" (101st Airborne).

• Song Vei Valley: Declared a "free fire zone." Tiger Force killed numerous unarmed civilians, including two blind brothers, a monk, and women and children in shelters.

• Cover-Up: Stout reported the rape and murder of a Vietnamese girl by the unit to his superiors and the chaplain. He was threatened with not returning from his next operation if he didn't keep quiet.

• Investigation: An army investigation later found cause to try $18$ members for murder, but records were buried and no charges ever brought.

The Siege of Con Thien and Battle of Hill $875$

• Con Thien ($\text{September-October } 1967$): Known as the "Hill of Angels" but nicknamed "the Alamo" by troops. Marines were subjected to constant artillery fire from the DMZ.

• Battle of Dak To (Hill $875$):

  • A massive confrontation in the Central Highlands starting $\text{November 19}, 1967$, involving the 173rd Airborne.

  • Friendly Fire: A U.S. bomb accidentally dropped on American positions, killing $42$ paratroopers.

  • Casualties: $107$ Americans died taking the hill; $282$ were wounded.

  • Outcome: After the battle, the U.S. forces were airlifted off the hill, effectively abandoning the ground they had fought for. Lieutenant Matthew Harrison described it as a "microcosm of what went wrong in Vietnam."

The "Success Offensive" and Official Doubts

• PR Campaign: In late $1967$, the Johnson administration launched a campaign to shore up public support. General Westmoreland and Ambassador Bunker used metaphors like "light at the end of the tunnel."

• Robert McNamara's Resignation: Disillusioned, McNamara wrote a secret memo advising a troop freeze and an end to bombing. Johnson ignored him and appointed him President of the World Bank, replacing him with Clark Clifford.

• The Coming Storm: By the end of $1967$, $20,057$ Americans had died in Vietnam. While Westmoreland planned an all-out offensive, the North Vietnamese were only a month away from the Tet Offensive.

Questions & Discussion

• Question from John Musgrave to the doctor: "What's your religion, marine?"

• Response: "Well, I'm a protestant." (This led to the doctor calling for a chaplain as Musgrave was triaged as a "dead man").

• Question to Roger Harris's mother: "Everybody in my unit's dying… everybody's mother thinks that they're special… I'm putting pieces of special people in bags… You just doesn't wanna face the fact that her only son's gonna die."

• Response from Mother: "No. You're coming back… God has a plan for you."

• Question to Ellsworth Bunker: "How long is this tunnel?"

• Response: "Well, I don't think that you can put it into a particular time frame."