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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-08435 to 363-08444.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-08435 to 363-08444
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Title
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Article about communist war crimes in the Vietnam War
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Description
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Original title: "atrocities", Keever's title: N/A, Article draft about communist war crimes in the Vietnam War, for The North American News Alliance
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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- Page 1
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everly Deepe
-4A Hong Thap Tu
saigon, Yistrem
August 3, 1967
atrocities-page 1
PLEIKU, SOUTH VIETNAM--Communist forces have committed
battlefield atrocities against American soldiers, U.
sources report.
military
the distasteful et in the eyes of the American sources
was executing wounded
American soldiers when Communit forces
overrun U.
military units or positions.
The confirmed evidence
of the
atrocities is at least two U. S. Army soldie
in this area who were wounded when their units were overrun, shot
in the head by a
to tell the story.
ས་
Communist troops and miraculously lived
In addition, other eyewitnesses also confirm the atrocities, the
sources said-but, in thef fury of battle many eyewitnesses could not
be sure if the Communists killed wounded G. I. or one already
dead. Hence, the exact number of atrocities are difficult to
ascertain, the sources said. But, in one of the worst actions,
found dead
50 to 60 of the 76 Americans had been shot in the head,
military sources id.
the
(More)
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Deepe
atrocities page 2
In one other case, military sources said Viet Cong guerrillas-
as distinct from North Vietnamese regulars-had mutilated the bodies
and
of American dead and wounded, taken all personal effects on the bodies.
Intelligence sources report captured North Vietnamese Army documents
order their units to send such personal belongings as letters, watches,
dogtags and rings of the dead American soldiers back to anti-Vietnam
protest groups in the nited States or to the families of the dead
as a means to cause more dissi disillusionment
in the United States,
with the American involvement in the war here.
any American troops, including officers,
think the Communists
have
are already started sending these battlefield sour nouvenirs back
but there is no evidence to confirm this, offici al
to America,
sources said.
The relatively few cases in which American units have been
overrun offer one of the time in which Communist forces dan
have the option of committing atrocities against American servicemen.
These battles represent some of the bitterest, most furious close
combat fighting in modern warfare.
(More)
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Deepe_
atrocities-page 3
Few American officers deny deny, however, that in some
instances American troops have also shot wounded Communist on the
battlefield and the South Vietnamese army has been notorious for™
its mishandling Communists falling into the s government hands,
even going so far as torturing Communi te who voluntarily defect to
the government side.
In this II Corps military zone, of which Pleiku is the
there have been four known cases of
Vietnamese headquarters,
atrocities against American troops, U. S. military sources said.
They r
-On June 22, (1967), a company of the U. Army 173rd
Airborne Brigade was overrun by the 6th Battalion, 24th Regiment
of the North Vietnamese Army on a jungled ridgeline only two miles
from the for frontier fort town of Dak To.
The American company--A Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry----
uffered 76 killed in action and 28 wounded in action. Listening to
the high casualty figures on the radio, the brigade's
considered it very unusual to have three times as many dead as
medics
wounded.
ha Normally,
combat casualties are in the reverse-
th three times as many wounded as dead.
(More)
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Deepe
atrocities -page 4
as he
Then American reinforcements went into the jungled battle area
to retrieve the dead and wounded, the brigade chaplain,
administered the last righ rites to the dead, noticed that many
had head wounds and mentioned it to the brigade surgeons,
in turn, tallied between fifty and sixty of the 76 dead had been
who,
shot in the head. Medical authorities say that normally in combat,
statistics of World War II and Korea, 18 out of 100 battlefield
deaths would be from fatal wounds in the heads.
Many of the
based on
G. I. helmets cluttering the battlefield also contained bullet holes.
Later, the retrieving company found five American soldiers in
the immediate battle area, who, though wounded, survived by hiding
in the weeds. Some of these told stories of their wounded colleagues
screaming 'Don't shoot: Don't shoot! as the North Vietnamese
shot them.
One of thes4 theme five Americans already wounded was himself
shot in the head by an North Vietnamese trooper, but miraculously the
bullet followed inside the curvature of his helmet, grazed his f
scalp and the bullet exited from the back of the helmet.
The Communist soldiers also ser searched the American dead and to
took peronsl personal papers, watches and rings-some of these items were found
on North Vietnamese soldiers who were killed later. The Communist units
did not, however, seize all the Ark M-16 rifles from the American
dead; the Communists were armed with the Soviet-made AK-47 rifle,
which they evidently considered better than the controversial American
se weapon.
(More)
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Deepe
atrocities--page 5
--On March 10, a 25-man platoon from A Company, 3 Battalion,
12th Infantry of the 4th Infantry Division was perched in a fortified
position on top of Hill 86 near Tuy Hoa, 230 miles northeast of
Saigon.
An estimated 100 Viet Cong as distinct from North Vietnamese
regular-overran the American platoon.
"And then Viet Cong women and children mutilated the bodies,"
one military sources said. "A Viet Cong woman would come along, lift
the head of the G. I. by rabbing his hair and a kid would cut
his throat with a knife." One Only six of the 25 survived by hiding
in the bushes.
(Mora)
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Deepe
atrocities page 6
-On May 18, near the Cambodian border, a company of the U. S.
Army 4th Infantry Division was on patrol near the Cambodian border.
The 4th platoon of the company-B Company, 1 Battalion, 18th Infantry-
saw three North Vietnamese snipers, fired at them and they withdrew
leaving behind three packs and documents. The platoon saw another
North Vietnamese and pursued him, hoping to capture him, chasing
up a draw near a small stream.
Then, a Nrth Vietnamese unit opened up from both sides
of the stream with a withering hair hail of machinegun and rocket fire.
Seven American soldiers jumped into the nearby stream-and a North
Vietnamese machinegun sliced down the waterway, killing six of
the seven immediately.
company were held down by other Communist gunners, the remainder
of the fourth 4th platoon hid in the thickets, firing at the North
Vietname e unit which had virtually surrounded them.
While the three other platoons in the
Whenever the
American soldiers fired at the Communists, which gave away their
position amongst the sapling trees, the Communists returned a
tremendous volley of fire.
The action started at noon and at 3:04 p.m., the last radio
transmission from the 4th platoon was received, saying that it was
surrounded, being overrun. sms samm The platoon sergeant requested
American artillery to strike his own position,
final desperate f request before defeat.
(More)
which is usually the
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Deepe
atrocities--page 7
The final American casualties in the 29-man platoon were
one missing and one unscratched.
* 20 killed, seven wounded,
According to the eight survivors, however, the firing continued
until roughly 4p. 4 p.m., falling in crescendo-like patterns into
the American position. Then, shortly before dark, the firing
BX ceased and the North Vietnamese troops "came walking into"
the American perimeter.
One of the survivors said he
way laying wounded among
five other Ame: ican troops, which he thought were all dead.
He said the North Vietnamese sprayed the whole cluster of bodies with
automatic weapons fire, he received another wound, this time a
grze graze across the hear head. The North Vietnamese searched these
bodies--including him and took wallets, rings, watches, reapons and
ammunition. This survivors said he heard a wounded American holler,
then a gunshot--and the American stopped yelle yelling.
Some
of the American bodies had gunshot wounds through the back of head,
which as distinct from spraying the bodies with automatic weapon.
Another survivors said that during the fighting his M/16
M-16 rifle jammed, but he ran to a small tree where an American
sergeant as protecting himself and he and the sergeant took turns
firing the sergeant's weapon. The sergeant was killed during the
fighting and the survivor wounded and as the North Vietnamese
troops walked into the American position "laughing and grinning"
he saw another nearby wounded. American riase u raise up his head and
and the North Vietnaes Vietnamese shot him. The survivors said
three or four other wounded Americans were also shot.
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Deepe
atrocities--page 8
The one Amerc American soldier who was unscratched said
the North Vietnamese kicked him the ribs a few times and tied
his hands back of him and then tied him to a small sapling tree,
Communist ambush
which he assumed would be the lure for a trap when the American
reinforcing company would come to retrieve the dead and wounded.
But, during the darkness when the American reinforcing company
searched only fifty years f yards from the battle site, the
American survivors refused to call you out for help, believing
hoping to prevent this company from also being ambushed.
surivi survivors were not found until the next morning.
The
-On July 12, another platoon from the 4th Infantry Division,
fighting in the same general area near the Cambodian border, also
encountered another North Vietnamese unit which virtually annhiliated
it.
I understrength
The phone B Company, wick 1 Battalion, 12th Infantry
became spl splintered into three lament elements, with North Vietemese
Vietnamese troops separating each. The one platoon, which was
virtually annhiliated, contained the company command element, including
the company commander, the artillery and air forward observer.
Only one of this * platoon survived.
the first
This command platoon was off to the right of the other two
platoons when the North Vietnamese opened up with mortars,
of which hit the company commander. He gave several more commands
and then lapsed into shock. More mortars poured in,
with the American
artillery officer giving commands,
when he also was killed.
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Deepe
atrocities -page 9
At this point, the only two who thanhimmy alive,
the rest of the platoon was annhiliated,
radio telephone operators (RTO's),
thinking
were both enlisted
who were laying back to back
and were continuing to fire at North Vietnamese who were walking
around in a casual manner in front and on two sides of them. Then,
one of the RTO' slumped over and stopped firing, the other suspecti
suspecting he had died.
The solo survivors,
already wounded, had his own weapon,
another he had picked up and his .45 pistol, which he pulled out
to fire at the approaching enemy. It wouldn't fire and he thought
it was empty; he pulled out a grenade and threw it at the North
Vietnamese about ten feet in front of him. Then, he slumped
over as the North Vietnamese casually walked into the position
of the immobile American unit. One North Vietnamese kicked the
sole survivors three or four times in the ribs; the American
attempted to hold his breath and remain motionless, but found he
had to breath despite his overt attempts to do otherwise.
took all his personal
The North Vietnamese turned him over,
belongings, including his watoh and tied rope around both of his
wirst writ wrists. Several North Vietnamese began to drag him with
the rope; he remained limp and the rope fell off one of his writ
wrists and they stopped pulling him.
The survivor then heard the North Vietnamese directing single
shots at the bodies of the other Americans, which were thought to be
dead.
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Deepe
trocities--page 10
The survivor told an American officer later:
"I wasn't really scared until this time and then I knew they'd
shoot me too. The first thing they did to take my own helment
and hit me on the head, but I still was not unconscious.
"Then they rolled me over on my stomach and I felt someone
tape the back of my head with his finger two or three times. The
last thing I remember was a deafening ror roar.
own pistol (hich he had thought was empty) at the back of my head."
They had fired my
The survivor remained unconsi unconscious for a brief time--
the bullet had a swathed a one-fuarter inch groove around the top
of his head, but he had miraco miraculously survived.
Two-thirds of the dead had gunshot wounds in the head, and
some of the dad dead had ropes tied around their hands, the
American medical authorities reported.
-30-
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Date
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1967, Aug. 3
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975
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Location
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Pleiku, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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13.5833; 107.7166
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B118, F6
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
