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Casualties of War, by Daniel Lang
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The searing account of a war crime and one soldier’s heroic efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice
First published in the New Yorker in 1969 and later adapted into an acclaimed film starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn, Casualties of War is the shocking true story of the abduction, rape, and murder of a young Vietnamese woman by US soldiers.
Before setting out on a five-day reconnaissance mission in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, Sergeant Tony Meserve told the four men under his command that their first objective would be to kidnap a girl and bring her along “for the morale of the squad.” At the end of the mission, Meserve said, they would kill their victim and dispose of the body to avoid prosecution for abduction and rape—capital crimes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Private First Class Sven Eriksson was the only member of the patrol who refused to participate in the atrocity. Haunted by his inability to save the young woman’s life, he vowed to see Meserve and the others convicted of their crimes. Faced with the cynical indifference of his commanding officers and outright hostility from his fellow infantrymen, Eriksson had the tenacity to persevere. He went on to serve as the government’s chief witness in four courts-martial related to the infamous Incident on Hill 192.
A masterpiece of contemporary journalism, Casualties of War is a clear-eyed, powerfully affecting portrait of the horrors of warfare and the true meaning of courage.
- Sales Rank: #741713 in eBooks
- Published on: 2014-12-16
- Released on: 2014-12-16
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
“The best piece of writing to come out of the war.” —The Boston Globe
“A classic statement of the horrors of the Vietnam War.” —The New Yorker
“Casualties of War could resurrect issues that transcend Vietnam. That one enlisted man rejected the madness . . . is the affirmation which peculiarly elevates this horror story.” —New York Post
About the Author
“The best piece of writing to come out of the war.” —The Boston Globe
“A classic statement of the horrors of the Vietnam War.” —The New Yorker
“Casualties of War could resurrect issues that transcend Vietnam. That one enlisted man rejected the madness . . . is the affirmation which peculiarly elevates this horror story.” —New York Post
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
You should be made aware of what came after this book...i.e. "the rest of the story". See below...
By R. Huntington
I will fill in one blank, so to speak, that others did not. That is, the real life hero whistle-blower in this true story, was warned in advance, by a high level officer (during an attempt to deter him from his pursuit of justice), to the effect th at military courts are known for extreme leniency and minimal sentences, so why bother, nobody really cares anyway, and also the accused and obviously dangerous "rapo girl killers" might likely want to exact revenge, and will very soon be on the streets to do just that, while anger is still running high. Well, at the end of the movie you will witness the sentences that are handed down. Lenient yes, but at least they served perhaps a medium of time in prison, maybe. You readers will be led to believe that the CO was wrong, because at least a medium of a sentence was handed down by the court. The sentences would have made the newspaper reading public as well as the victims family feel that at least a little bit of punishment was meted out. And our hero Erikkson might have though his efforts worth it, at least a little bit of justice was done. But the story actually doesn't end where this book does. If you search "Casualties Of War" at wikipedia, you will learn that shortly after the news fanfare died down, and the public forgot about it and went on with their lives, all those sentences were modified. You will be shocked to learn the leniency of the modified sentences. To avoid being a spoiler, I won't say reveal that here, but will most earnestly recommend that you first watch the movie, then read the book, then go to wikipedia to "Casualties of War" and at the end of the page you will find the real sentences.
As an aside, some of you may be old enough to remember another atrocity, the horrific headline news of the "My Lai massacre" during the Vietnam war, and how the Officer who lamely interpreted his orders to mean that he should execute 22 unarmed civilians, was eventually sentenced to life in prison. A life sentence!! Hmm, so the public and the victims families probably had some satisfaction that at least some justice was done? But later, without headlines and fanfare, William Calley, Jr. former United States Army officer found guilty of murdering 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War, after several reductions, his original sentence of life in prison was turned into an order of house arrest. But after three years, President Nixon reduced his sentence with a presidential pardon. (this paragraph sourced at wikipedia)
Sadly, the lesson learned from a sampling of follow-ups on real life war atrocities, is that if you want to avoid battle, you can opt to go on a spree of atrocities and, though there is only a slim chance you might get prosecuted, if you do get charged you will be sent stateside, which is where a deserter or a coward would rather be, right? And then you can count on having your sentence reduced to perhaps less time than you were contractually obligated to serve in the war you decide doesn't suit you. An easy out, if you have no conscience to bother you. You will be a civilian on the streets of the USA sooner than the guys you went through boot camp with, and perhaps living next door to any of us. You will have a dishonorable discharge, which used to mean something to employers in America's better days, but is never even mentioned anymore, and anyway it's easy enough to lie about on an employment app, so this is no big concern to our lowest crust of soldier. So there it is, the way to get an early out. Doh!!
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
One of the most gut-wrenching indictments of war ever written
By J from NY
New York Times writer Daniel Laing's chronicle of one young soldier's helplessness in the face of appalling evil. The rape, torture and murder of 20 year old Vietnamese peasant Phi Than Mao in the Highlands of Vietnam by the other four members of his patrol, all of whom for reasons of confidentiality are changed (along with the protagonists, who is given the unlikely name "Sven Errikson") is a war crime that even with the Mai Lai massacre and the depraved behavior of some US soldiers in Afghanistan as revealed by the recent WikiLeaks, defies comprehension.
This story was given a pretty good treatment by Brian DePalma in the 1989 film Casualties of War (Unrated Extended Cut). The real story, of course, is infinitely more complex and gruesome.
The leader of Errikson's patrol and instigator of the crime, 20 year old Sergeant Tony Meserve, was a decorated soldier who had only 30 days left in Vietnam. From Brooklyn NY, his behavior around the time of the atrocity (November 18, 1966), was characterized by other soldiers as "erratic". He would fire at Vietnamese civilians sometimes simply because "he felt like it". Ralph Clark, whose behavior reads like that of a textbook psychopath, not a "war traumatized soldier", was from Philadelphia. The other two, brothers Rafe and Manuel and Diaz, were from San Diego. They seemed "affable" but quick to bow under Meserve's commands.
Before leaving for a patrol which was characterized by African American lieutenant Reilly as "high risk", Meserve related to the rest of the patrol that it would be "good for the morale of the squad" if they "picked up a girl for some boom boom." They would carry her around, rape her, then kill her when she became inconvient. Which is exactly what they did despite Errikson's attempts to stop it.
Trapped in a sweaty jungle with four other men who had signed a pact with the devil and numbed their conscience, he was told repeatedly that if he did not participate in the rape, he might become a "friendly casualty" and end up coming home in a bodybag. Though he was unable to save Mao's life--I'm not sure how he could have--he immediately went to the authorities upon his return to base.
He was dissuaded in every fashion imaginable from going public with the knowledge. Two attempts on his life were made by friends of the other four. The military pulled every trick in the book, offering him any position he wanted, even a discharge, until Errikson finally told Lieutenant Reilly that he wanted to be a door gunner, was not going anywhere and was not shutting his mouth.
What's even more horrifying than the murder was the result of this man's valor and honesty. When the four were finally court martialed, the defense questioned Errikson's sexuality, brought up the possibility that Mao was indeed a "VC sympathizer", and let him know very bluntly that military tribunals were notoriously lenient and that he might want to think about his wife at home. Sent to Fort Leavenworth as a penalty, all four of these men were released at a fraction of their stated sentences. Great for Errikson and his then newborn daughter.
Though this book is about an incident in Vietnam things have changed very little. Soldiers who are honest are afraid to stand up to the "boy's club", and incidents like this are actually innumerable in the lost war of Afghanistan. Read this and understand what it means to sneer at ideas like world peace. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand conscience, what war does to men, and how the "military tribunal system" for war criminals actually works.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
sad truth
By steven walsh
i knew what i was in for when purchasing this book because i had seen the film that was based on these events and i must say that it was the only film i have ever seen that i could not watch a second time because it is a truly sad truth to what people do and the reason i purchased the book that these events were told was to read the more accurate and true story of such terrible crimes , the satisfaction i got from this though is that these events were eventually brought to light and could not be covered up.
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