MillRatUSMC
11-13-03, 09:39 AM
TASK FORCE OREGON, Tiger Force trail of atrocities
Saw this on the news, the investication on these atrocities was killed in 1975 by the government because it saw no use dued to the war having just ended.
In the piece on the news, there was William Doyle, who stated his favorite way of shooting was shooting someone in the back.
All of these are war crimes.
Those crimes have no limitations and these men might be brought to trial on these war crimes.
The mission:
Fearing the North Vietnamese would take control of the Central Highlands and cut South Vietnam in two, Gen.William Westmoreland in February, 1967 created Task Force Oregon made up of numerous Army units including Tiger
Force to clear out enemy troops and relocate civilians.
As part of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, Tiger Force arrived in Duc Pho on May 3 to begin a series of search-and-destroy missions that would last until Aug. 10.
The unit then moved to Chu Lai to continue its operations.
Trail of atrocities
Aug. 10, 1967,
to Nov. 25, 1967.
From May through November, 1967, Tiger Force swept across
the Central Highlands torching hamlets and rounding up villagers
to send them to relocation camps. Those villagers who stayed
behind became frequent targets.
Seven months of war crimes*:
MAY
May 6/ Song Ve Valley George Hatten
mutilates dead Vietnamese.
May 8/ near Duc Pho After capturing
and torturing a prisoner, soldiers order
him to run and fatally shoot him
JUNE
June/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. Terrance
Kerrigan executes a prisoner.
June/ near Duc Pho Spec. Kenneth
Green tortures and kills a bound prisoner.
June/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers kill an
elderly man and place a grenade on his
body to disguise him as an enemy.
JULY
June-July/ near Duc Pho Pvt. Sam
Ybarra and Spec. Kenneth Green
capture, kill, and scalp an enemy soldier.
June-July/ near Duc Pho Pvt. Sam
Ybarra kills and cuts off the ears of an
unarmed 15-year-old boy.
July/ near Duc Pho Losing a bet that
he can knock out a prisoner with one
punch, Sgt. Robin Varney and two others
kill the prisoner with a bayonet.
July/ Song Ve Valley Pvt. Sam Ybarra
and Spec. Kenneth Green kill a prisoner
instead of evacuating him.
July 18/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. William
Doyle admits to killing a wounded Viet Cong
fighter after the prisoner asks for water.
July 23/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. Harold
Trout clubs Dao Hue, an elderly, unarmed
carpenter, with his rifle and Lt. James
Hawkins shoots Dao Hue in the face.
July 24/ Song Ve Valley An unarmed
man is wounded while approaching the
unit's night position. Sgt. Harold Trout
fatally shoots the man.
July 27/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers execute
two prisoners on the order of an officer.
July 28/ Song Ve Valley The platoon
opens fire on 10 elderly, unarmed farmers,
killing four. Others are injured.
July 28/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers stop
a 12-year-old boy, Vo Tai Can, leading
two unarmed, partially blind men. The
boy is evacuated, but the soldiers execute
the men.
Early August/ Song Ve Valley Lt.
James Hawkins orders troops to fire on
two unarmed, elderly women approaching
camp. One woman is injured.
August/ near Chu Lai Unit members
kill suspected Viet Cong fighter and then
find the man's elderly father. Pvt. James
Cogan wounds the father before another
platoon member kills him.
August/ near Chu Lai Sgt. William
Doyle shoots an unarmed teenager in
the back after ordering him to leave.
Sergeant Doyle also shoots a North
Vietnamese prisoner assigned to the unit
as an interpreter.
August/ near Chu Lai Soldiers drop
grenades into three underground bunkers
filled with Vietnamese men, women, and
children.
August/ near Tam Ky Sgt. William
Doyle shoots a farmer in the forearm,
then orders troops to kill the man as he
begs for his life. The man is executed.
Aug. 21/ near Chu Lai Soldiers tie up
and torture a prisoner and tell him to run.
He is fatally shot as he runs away.
Late August-September/ between Tam
Ky and Chu Lai Pvt. Sam Ybarra and
Spec. Kenneth Green sexually assault a
13-year-old girl before killing her
NOVEMBER
November/ near Chu Lai After
searching a village for weapons and
finding none, exiting soldiers come under
fire from a distant hillside. They return
fire, and then turn their guns on the
village, killing six civilians.
November/ location unknown Pvt.
Sam Ybarra decapitates an infant in a
village hut.
Nov. 11 - Nov. 21, Quang Nam province
Tiger Force radio logs list 49 "Viet Cong"
killed, but in 46 deaths no weapons are
seized. Former platoon members now
say that civilians were killed and radio
log information was fabricated.
UNKNOWN
Unknown date/ Chu Lai Sgt. James
Barnett executes a young mother on the
order of Sgt. Harold Trout.
September to November/ unknown
location Pvt. John Colligan shoots an
unarmed, elderly Vietnamese man to test
a present he had recieved a 38-caliber
handgun.
September to November/ near Tam Ky
A soldier beheads one elderly man and
medic Barry Bowman fatally shoots a
wounded man in the same village.
Total known dead from
Tiger Force atrocities: 81
Soldiers do not know how many
people died in the bunkers, and
several said they kept no count of
what were widespread civilian
deaths. Former medic Rion Causey
said 120 were killed by his team
during just one month.
There but for the grace of God go I.
Yet the guestion must be asked.
"Should the men still alive be brought to trial on these war crimes?"
The government is looking in to starting another investigation.
then another question;
"What good will this investigation serve?"
Semper Fidelis
Ricardo
Saw this on the news, the investication on these atrocities was killed in 1975 by the government because it saw no use dued to the war having just ended.
In the piece on the news, there was William Doyle, who stated his favorite way of shooting was shooting someone in the back.
All of these are war crimes.
Those crimes have no limitations and these men might be brought to trial on these war crimes.
The mission:
Fearing the North Vietnamese would take control of the Central Highlands and cut South Vietnam in two, Gen.William Westmoreland in February, 1967 created Task Force Oregon made up of numerous Army units including Tiger
Force to clear out enemy troops and relocate civilians.
As part of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, Tiger Force arrived in Duc Pho on May 3 to begin a series of search-and-destroy missions that would last until Aug. 10.
The unit then moved to Chu Lai to continue its operations.
Trail of atrocities
Aug. 10, 1967,
to Nov. 25, 1967.
From May through November, 1967, Tiger Force swept across
the Central Highlands torching hamlets and rounding up villagers
to send them to relocation camps. Those villagers who stayed
behind became frequent targets.
Seven months of war crimes*:
MAY
May 6/ Song Ve Valley George Hatten
mutilates dead Vietnamese.
May 8/ near Duc Pho After capturing
and torturing a prisoner, soldiers order
him to run and fatally shoot him
JUNE
June/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. Terrance
Kerrigan executes a prisoner.
June/ near Duc Pho Spec. Kenneth
Green tortures and kills a bound prisoner.
June/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers kill an
elderly man and place a grenade on his
body to disguise him as an enemy.
JULY
June-July/ near Duc Pho Pvt. Sam
Ybarra and Spec. Kenneth Green
capture, kill, and scalp an enemy soldier.
June-July/ near Duc Pho Pvt. Sam
Ybarra kills and cuts off the ears of an
unarmed 15-year-old boy.
July/ near Duc Pho Losing a bet that
he can knock out a prisoner with one
punch, Sgt. Robin Varney and two others
kill the prisoner with a bayonet.
July/ Song Ve Valley Pvt. Sam Ybarra
and Spec. Kenneth Green kill a prisoner
instead of evacuating him.
July 18/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. William
Doyle admits to killing a wounded Viet Cong
fighter after the prisoner asks for water.
July 23/ Song Ve Valley Sgt. Harold
Trout clubs Dao Hue, an elderly, unarmed
carpenter, with his rifle and Lt. James
Hawkins shoots Dao Hue in the face.
July 24/ Song Ve Valley An unarmed
man is wounded while approaching the
unit's night position. Sgt. Harold Trout
fatally shoots the man.
July 27/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers execute
two prisoners on the order of an officer.
July 28/ Song Ve Valley The platoon
opens fire on 10 elderly, unarmed farmers,
killing four. Others are injured.
July 28/ Song Ve Valley Soldiers stop
a 12-year-old boy, Vo Tai Can, leading
two unarmed, partially blind men. The
boy is evacuated, but the soldiers execute
the men.
Early August/ Song Ve Valley Lt.
James Hawkins orders troops to fire on
two unarmed, elderly women approaching
camp. One woman is injured.
August/ near Chu Lai Unit members
kill suspected Viet Cong fighter and then
find the man's elderly father. Pvt. James
Cogan wounds the father before another
platoon member kills him.
August/ near Chu Lai Sgt. William
Doyle shoots an unarmed teenager in
the back after ordering him to leave.
Sergeant Doyle also shoots a North
Vietnamese prisoner assigned to the unit
as an interpreter.
August/ near Chu Lai Soldiers drop
grenades into three underground bunkers
filled with Vietnamese men, women, and
children.
August/ near Tam Ky Sgt. William
Doyle shoots a farmer in the forearm,
then orders troops to kill the man as he
begs for his life. The man is executed.
Aug. 21/ near Chu Lai Soldiers tie up
and torture a prisoner and tell him to run.
He is fatally shot as he runs away.
Late August-September/ between Tam
Ky and Chu Lai Pvt. Sam Ybarra and
Spec. Kenneth Green sexually assault a
13-year-old girl before killing her
NOVEMBER
November/ near Chu Lai After
searching a village for weapons and
finding none, exiting soldiers come under
fire from a distant hillside. They return
fire, and then turn their guns on the
village, killing six civilians.
November/ location unknown Pvt.
Sam Ybarra decapitates an infant in a
village hut.
Nov. 11 - Nov. 21, Quang Nam province
Tiger Force radio logs list 49 "Viet Cong"
killed, but in 46 deaths no weapons are
seized. Former platoon members now
say that civilians were killed and radio
log information was fabricated.
UNKNOWN
Unknown date/ Chu Lai Sgt. James
Barnett executes a young mother on the
order of Sgt. Harold Trout.
September to November/ unknown
location Pvt. John Colligan shoots an
unarmed, elderly Vietnamese man to test
a present he had recieved a 38-caliber
handgun.
September to November/ near Tam Ky
A soldier beheads one elderly man and
medic Barry Bowman fatally shoots a
wounded man in the same village.
Total known dead from
Tiger Force atrocities: 81
Soldiers do not know how many
people died in the bunkers, and
several said they kept no count of
what were widespread civilian
deaths. Former medic Rion Causey
said 120 were killed by his team
during just one month.
There but for the grace of God go I.
Yet the guestion must be asked.
"Should the men still alive be brought to trial on these war crimes?"
The government is looking in to starting another investigation.
then another question;
"What good will this investigation serve?"
Semper Fidelis
Ricardo