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These stories are true, but the names may be Montagnard Kids (not for children or the squeamish)
Personal Note: Terror is a tool of war and/or politics. Most often wielded against civilians, terror tactics can be a very effective and inexpensive weapon. Ill-equipped, small armies (or units) can effectively deflect and distract much, much larger, better-trained and better-equipped armies by conducting hit-and-run raids against isolated or attractive targets. However, such operations are high-risk and can be high-cost (bodywise). As such, they may lag behind the attractive alternative of hitting "soft" targets. Soft targets are those that pose little or no threat to the attacking force. If you're outgunned and outmanned and "out-teched"...soft targets may easily become your primary targets. Just ask al Qaida or the PLO or any other terrorist organization. The Viet Cong used terror as a political weapon in South Vietnam. It was a calculated decision, made using the cold-blooded calculus of war. Political (and literal) decapitation was among their most effective tactics. It was accomplished by having a small unit of VC "visit" (in the Biblical sense) a village friendly to the US (or not, it didn't really matter) , seize the leaders, chop off their heads and display them on poles for all to see. There were infinite variations on this theme, but the primary result was a terrorized populace. If the village was considered friendly, this would tie up US or ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) troops to provide additional security. In this manner, a small number of guerrila soldiers could tie up a much larger force. When I first arrived at the 71st, we had twice monthly MedCAPs(Medical Civic Action Program) to villages around Pleiku. MedCAPs were an attempt to deliver health care to the people of the area. A team of medics, doctors, nurses, and a dentist would load up the supplies they thought might be needed on a couple of trucks and everyone would caravan out to the selected village. Once there, we'd have the whole village standing around, waiting to be seen. Vaccinations, physical exams, injuries, dental work and all manner of ills would be seen and treated. At the very least, everyone received an aspirin. You couldn't examine someone and NOT give them something, could you?? The children generally would receive a surreptitiously delivered chocolate bar or C-ration dessert. It was nice to be involved in providing often badly-needed medical care to people who were still living a Stone-age-like existence. The 'Yards were very primitive in their lifestyle, but ages ahead of us in their social structure. I really liked the 'Yards a lot. After a couple of MedCAPs were ambushed and some personnel wounded, the higher- ups decided to cancel them all. Every MedCAP was accompanied by infantry and generally had air cover circling overhead while the team was caring for the sick and injured civilians. Despite those precautions, people had been hurt and medical personnel were highly prized and protected as well as possible, so MedCAPs died in the Central Highlands. One night, early in 1970 , we got a call on the radio that "our" 'Yard village had been hit by the Cong and we had a bunch of wounded kids headed our way by ground transport. We all rushed around and gathered up a bunch of gurneys and geared up for action in the ER. Unless we were actually doing a case, all of the OR folks gravitated to the ER, especially when we knew there was action happening. It helped a lot to be in on the processing of incoming patients so we'd know a little bit more about the patient when they came into surgery. This wasn't always possible, of course. Sometimes we were so swamped that we just had to take new patients cold (meaning, with no prior information about them) and figure out what they needed, then do it. This could be quite exciting, to say the least! When the trucks (please notice the "s" on the end of truck!) rolled in through the gate and up to the ER entrance, we were all standing outside, stretchers in hand. The first two deuce-and-a-halfs (2.5 ton ten-wheel drive truck) slid to a halt and we jumped into action. A couple of guys dropped the tailgate on the first one and then jumped up into the truck bed. There were a bunch of kids laying around in pools of blood, mostly in shock. We didn't have time to spend much time figuring out who needed what, so we hurried them onto stretchers as another team attacked the second truck. After we'd gotten them all unloaded, the ER was pretty full! There were patients and hospital personnel everywhere. We had about fifteen children on stretchers, none of whom was more than about ten years old. They had a variety of injuries, but most of them had been disemboweled. After triaging and determining the surgical order, we went to work. Whoever had done the work on these kids was certainly good at his job. In almost all of them, there was just one slash across the belly, at about the level of the umbilicus (belly button). It was large enough to allow the intestines to fall out. With the pain and agony of it, the children had apparently fallen to the ground and been writhing around. The intestines were covered with the red dirt of Pleiku and blood. It was really, really bad and more trucks were arriving with other wounded. I don't remember many details of the surgeries or how the children did in recovery. The image of so many kids with their intestines hanging out still haunts me. From a medical standpoint, we dealt with much worse injuries all of the time, but the calculated nature of this planned atrocity still chills me. As the story unfolded and we got more information about it, we learned that a group of VC had attacked the village and captured all of the leaders. After rounding up all of the people, they beheaded the leaders and chopped them up pretty good. Then, to further make the point, I guess, they shot all men (males above 12 years), raped and tortured the women and girls, killing several of them in the process. As a grand finale, they disembowelled the children and left them to die, writhing in the dirt. At some point, a survivor somehow contacted US forces. Immediately, a SF team was dispatched to check out the village. What they discovered was a VC version of hell...dead or dying people all over the place, bloody heads stuck up on poles, headless bodies strewn about, dead men with hands tied behind their backs shot in the head, women and girls bleeding and crying, dead babies with brains bashed out, and a bunch of kids with their guts in their hands, trying to stuff them back in their bellies, dazed looks on their faces. Some just sat, looking at the scene, with their entrails hanging down like an apron, covered with dirt and blood, flies buzzing all over the place, dogs licking up the pools of blood and tearing bites of flesh from the cooling bodies. Calling for help, the SF guys did what they could for the survivors, trying to keep them alive long enough to get them to the hospital. It took a long twenty minutes for the first truck to arrive. This scene was enacted many other times in many other places in Vietnam. It has been duplicated in other countries, with variations. When you loose the dogs of war, you can't always predict who they will eat. Comments: E-mail me Thanks for visiting ...SP5 Steven Streeper
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