Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay

Author:Jonathan Shay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2003-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

FRIENDLY FIRE

I have described the total and terrifying dependence of the modern combat soldier on the competence and trustworthiness of others in the army. This all-inclusive dependence not only means relying on the army to provide ammunition, intelligence, food, water, and medical evacuation, but also relying on your own not to kill you with weapons intended for the enemy. The soldier’s vulnerability is never more dramatically apparent than when artillery, bombs, or napalm intended to support troops in a fight with the enemy kill the very men they are meant to protect. The most famous such incident in the Vietnam War was the accidental bombing of a company of paratroopers near Dak To in November 1967. Less dramatic were the deaths by ones, twos, and fours that would occur when platoons from the same company fired on each other; when a grenade jauntily (and irresponsibly) worn by its pin dislodged in the mess tent; when a helicopter gunship mistook Americans for the enemy.

This tank gunner’s experience was but one example of something every veteran of prolonged combat has witnessed:

Let’s see, I worked places like ______, ______, and ______. It was during that time, the seventeen tanks worked together once. The seventeen tanks got on line. There was infantry in front of us. The captain ordered everyone back because the fight was getting too heavy for them, and we pushed up. And we got the order. Seventeen tanks opened up at once, and the fucking jungle just fell in front of us. Needless to say, there was four infantry still in front. And they died. They just didn’t have control of all their men. I think these guys were from the Big Red One [First Infantry Division].

And that’s the only thing we found out there, was four dead of our guys. Didn’t find any [enemy dead].

According to Colonel David Hackworth, 15 to 20 percent of American deaths in Vietnam were due to “friendly fire.”4 My purpose is not to sit in judgment but to emphasize the painfulness and universality of death and wounds from one’s own arms.

About half of Homer’s massive poem is devoted to direct description of battle. There are more than a dozen examples of a weapon (arrow, spear, stone) missing the enemy soldier it was aimed at but killing another nearby. Suspiciously, there is not a single example of hitting a “friendly” warrior. No one cuts a comrade with the backstroke of his sword, knocks him down with his chariot, or hinders a movement of his comrade’s shield to deflect a fatal spear throw. In this highly specific and detailed account of armies fighting, there is only one episode of deaths from friendly fire:

Not far from [Achilles] …

Athêna shrieked …

Three great cries [Achilles] gave above the moat. Three times they shuddered,

whirling backward, Trojans and allies,

and twelve good men took mortal hurt

from cars and weapons in the rank behind. (18:259ff)

The goddess Athêna is heavily involved here, as if to say that such things do not happen in ordinary battle.

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