4 - The Black Vault

BDM CORPORATION
STHE
young ifficers stated: "Very few in thv officers corps
'stood up to be counted' - on the body count, base camp
luxuries, or other legacies of peacetime which followed
to Vietnam - legacies of the hypocrisy of 'looking good.'
Even more so, mary tolerated the quibbling of a reporting
system conditioned to tell the commander what he
wanted to hear." A lieutenant general wrote on his
questionnaire: "I don't think the military did itself
proud in Vietnam - why didn't the military leaders at
the top speak out?"
Kinnard, The War Managers (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New
England, 1977), p. 76.
91. Gene Ferguson, a 25-year veteran with 2 years service in Vietnam
observes:
The war itself is corrupting, and I don't mean this
from any esoteric political viewpoint. I mean Air
Force guys can make l(,ts of loot, extra Vietnam pay,
all untaxed. Flight crews fight each other for Vietnam
duty. Guys make one over-flight a month from Laos,
Thailand, or a carrier and get extra pay. Loadmasters,
who arý absolutely crucial, balk at going to Germany
becau.u there's more in it for them personally in AMia.
For tht,ýe men, the rot has already entered their souls.
For others, this kind of corruption changes
another
them
way.
in
If a career enlisted inan doesn't come
back with a Commendation Medal, cr if an officer
doesn't get a Bronze Star, then something's wrong witn
them. They dole it out like candy. Nothing much is
required. Commanders report victories because that
goes on their 'Officer Effectiveness Reports,' on which
promotions and appointments are based.
Murray Polner, No Victory Paraaes, The Return of the Vietnam Veteran
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), p. 155.
92. William Skelton in remarks at the National Archives Building for the
19th Annual National Archives Conference, "Soldiers and Civilians:
The US Army and the American Republic," May 17-18, 1979.
93. Linden explains the fine line such an officer must walk:
The infantry or rear-echelon office must be acutely
sensitive to both the frustrations of his men and the
demands of his superiors. He is P:pected to make sense
4-60
9,R