Anger------In their Eyes

[will work 4 food]

Have We Forgotten Anger in the Eyes?

By James L. Larocca
James L. Larocca, a professor of public policy at Southampton College, was a naval officer in Vietnam during 1967-68. His Vietnam-based play, "Penang," is being presented Thursday evening at Guild Hall

August 13, 2003

Ordinarily, our boats patrolled Vietnam's rivers in pairs. But on this night we had several teams operating together as we launched the Pentagon's latest ingenious scheme for winning the war in the Mekong Delta.

The concept was simple enough: instead of surprising people with conventional gunfire during raids, the boats would first set the houses and buildings on fire with bows and arrows. The brass called this early version of "shock and awe" Operation Flaming Arrow.

Of course, the flimsy huts burned like matchbooks, leaving the families homeless and destitute. The next day, civil action teams of GIs would arrive bearing sheets of corrugated tin for new roofs and bags of rice to help the villagers get started again. There would also be bars of Dial soap and clothing from church groups in the states.

I remember a particular time when, with the fires still smoldering in the stultifying heat of a Delta morning, the teams distributed boxes of heavy sweaters.

EDITED BY ADMIN: C0PYRIGHT

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vplar13d3411892aug13,0,5863692.story


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[Name_Removed]

1. You should edit out all but about 3 paragraphs or so...

and provide a link to the article in full for copyright reasons...

[will work 4 food]

2. Done... thanks

[never cry wolf]

4. you are correct

but a great article nevertheless, thanks for posting it and welcome both to DU. (though methinks name removed knows the rules too well for a newbie.)

[denverbill]

3. Excellent article.

Should be required reading for the Bush admin.

[Karenina]

5. They don't read anything

that doesn't bolster thier *bushit.

[will work 4 food]

6. A bump for the evening crowd

.

[WillyT]

7. Wow... That Was An Awesome Reminder !!! --- Thanks For Posting This !

:grr::nuke::mad:

[WillyT]

8. Kick !!! -- Excellent !

:kick: