Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 5
h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir huts are destroyed, <strong>the</strong>y build ano<strong>the</strong>r hut which
remained hidden a short time until a repetition of <strong>the</strong> above
takes place. 181
Only <strong>the</strong> “enemy” was to be attacked. However, since everyone was suspect, everyone
<strong>and</strong> everything were legitimate targets. Marine reports reflected this reality. For example,
almost every house that was burned down or bombed was listed as a house of a “known
b<strong>and</strong>it”. Thus, one Guardia ground patrol report stated that twelve “b<strong>and</strong>it” houses were
burnt, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n added: “Not all houses were burnt on <strong>the</strong> account of my shortage of
matches”. 182 Ano<strong>the</strong>r report was brutally frank when it stated: “This column accomplished
its mission in destroying b<strong>and</strong>it supplies <strong>and</strong> rendered Remongon … uninhabitable. The
b<strong>and</strong>its in that area, if <strong>the</strong>y remain <strong>the</strong>re, will have to live in <strong>the</strong> woods.” 183
The “b<strong>and</strong>it”
families, who were probably <strong>the</strong> civilian population of <strong>the</strong> area, were also left homeless.
Marine aviators were also involved in this destruction. In <strong>the</strong> months of February to May
1928 <strong>the</strong>re were 37 documented air attacks against civilian targets. In none of <strong>the</strong>se cases
was fire returned. When trying to determine what to attach, pilots hit anything that looked
“suspicious”. This included people, houses, crops <strong>and</strong> animals. An <strong>Air</strong> Service report noted:
“The area surrounding Remongon is very suspicious. Every indication of inhabitants in
<strong>the</strong> area, such as smoke from <strong>the</strong> houses, washing out to dry <strong>and</strong> extensively cultivated
corn fields, yet no people were observed in <strong>the</strong> area.” 184
Thus, an area was suspicious if
<strong>the</strong> aviators could not see <strong>the</strong> people, who were obviously hiding since <strong>the</strong> aeroplanes
attacked anything suspicious, like daily activities such as laundry.
However, remaining in <strong>the</strong> open might also make you appear “suspicious”. A second <strong>Air</strong>
Service Report noted that <strong>the</strong>re was no sign of “outlaw” activity in <strong>the</strong> town of Concordia.
Instead:
Twelve or fifteen women, nine children <strong>and</strong> eight men were seen in
<strong>the</strong> town. Two women were sweeping in <strong>the</strong> interior of <strong>the</strong> church.
After looking <strong>the</strong> town over closely, one bomb was dropped in a field
just outside <strong>the</strong> town. The plane immediately circled low over <strong>the</strong>
town to note <strong>the</strong> effect. The women ran for <strong>the</strong>ir houses <strong>and</strong> stood
in <strong>the</strong> doorways looking in <strong>the</strong> direction of <strong>the</strong> explosion <strong>and</strong> toward
<strong>the</strong> plane. 185
Many times <strong>the</strong> Marine aviators bombed or fired <strong>the</strong>ir machine guns at targets to “see what
developed”. This tactic was an attempt to draw fire from potential “b<strong>and</strong>its” that might be
in <strong>the</strong> area. In one example, <strong>the</strong> report noted that <strong>the</strong> pilot saw a man “running for cover”
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 91