Posted by Ernie on 4/28/2007, 5:08 pm The mentality of the high level military community was to take ground. To conquer a parcel of land was the objective of war for a long time. So if it worked at Normandy, then it is the thing in Vietnam. According to Lee Russell, this was the strategy of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. And he ordered the military to conquer the hill. But what did they have when they did? So they left it and went back to firebase. But the enemy would again occupy that hill complete with bunkers and tunnels. The US intelligence community would see the enemy activities and send the men to fight the way to the top of that same hill and for what. It was very confusing to us and it caused a morale problem. To top all of it off, we got a glimpse of the chemical warfare. The Vietnam Veterans of America has a high level committee devoted to Agent Orange. When I was enrolling into the VA medical program, I found out that if I have certain illnesses such as prostate cancer or diabetes, I could be entitled to a check. I said that could not be as I was not exposed to any chemicals. It did not matter. I had been to Vietnam and that with these diseases made me eligible. Some 25 years after the war, a group of VVA members went back to Vietnam and found that even then all that would grow in the Agent Orange areas was a sickly orange grass. The scars of war remain for so long and we lost that war. Horn's rebellion was hard to watch. He defied the LT and Sarge and faced a vigilante E-6 only to end up going up and taking the hill and gets seriously injured. Josh did a great job and I was impressed with LT and Sarge's frustration. I enjoyed Horn looking down that hawk's beak nose to the LT and giving him a very snappy salute back at the Chu Lai base! Between us chickens, one glimpse of the snake and that hill would forever belong to the NVA. I saw a snake on Monkey mountain once and I swore to the TOP that it was a cobra! Top sagely took his pipe out of his mouth and said, "That couldn't have been a cobra, Specialist Johnson. They don't have cobras in Vietnam." They do now! And you gotta love Danny for telling the brass off! You tell 'em! Ernie...
The Hill is the episode of the week. It is the episode of frustration and futility.
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