[Old and Reliable]

Lt. Calley and that tragic incident were again proof that the unseen enemy, both on the ground, and in the air killed many Americans, in WW11, Korea, Vietnam, and both Desert Storm and current "Sandbox" activities-

I quoted the common mantra of special ops. back in the 'Nam era, but that fact doesn't mean I believe in it. A cop's worst nightname, even a "Dirty Harry .44 mag type" is to apprehend a 11 year old with a weapon in hand coming out of a 7-11 at dead dark night in the rain- and he has the split second decision to make- my life on the line? Or does this kid have a water pistol made to look like a Uzi- with the red "Safety?" front muzzle cap removed.-

My heart goes out to the family of the bi-polar lad who lost his life at the bullet of a LE member- a judgement call I would NOT ever want to have to make- a Clear and Present danger entering my home and a threat to me and my loved ones- will die in the doorway- aka- "The gateway to Hades"- but profiling a stranger who doesn't speak the language and possibly shooting him because he might be a terrorist- tough call.

I would NOT wish to denigrate your USAF missions in "Shock and Awe" ops- the SAM and good old gal Hanoi Jane Fonda and her NVA rocketmen non-withstanding- but LRRPs in class three jungle canopies- the dangers aren't as visible as possibly what you and your crews saw from the skies and your canopied cockpits.

I knew the late Gunny Hathcock- aka "White Feather" as did many Marines and troopies in 1 Corps sector- a legend indeed- Most of his recorded 93 kills were assigned targets- M/Sgt. Chuck McWhinney had a tabulated kill record of over 300- this in the era of Officers(?) and leaders like Lt. Col. Ollie North- who saw high body counts as a fast track up the ranks- and got it too. Vietnam was a war we weren't allowed to win- and a lot of the doubt and suspicion of our Leaders today comes from the 1960's and that turbulent era.

You can castigate Lt. Calley if you wish, I don't! I believe he runs a family jewelry store in GA nowadays- and I'm glad Nixon pardoned him- better to Court Martial the OIC of the Ohio National Guard detail that went to Kent State in Ohio 40 years ago --issuing them Garands with live rounds- against unarmed college kids- no training in crowd control- almost like the British trooper who fired his Brown Bess into the Boston crowd and started the Boston Massacre that lead to our Revolution against King George-

One flash of temper, loss of control and training discipline- shots fired that can never be taken back-