Why American Soldiers Killed Their Own Officers in Vietnam War

The term “fragging,” or the deliberate killing of your military colleagues, was coined during the Vietnam War. It was a shockingly common phenomenon during that conflict, but why? Why were American soldiers killing their own officers? What drove them to do it? How did they get away with it? And what impact did this unprecedented level of murderous insubordination have on how the military operates today? Find out in today's epic new video that finds out why so many American soldiers were killing their own officers during the Vietnam War.

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[itsmatt]

Dad was in Vietnam. Heard some young career officers tried to send their troops pointlessly into deadly or unwinnable action just so the officer could put it on his resume and open the door to later getting promoted. Officers didn't want to get rotated home without at least one hot time in combat on their record. Heard some of those officers had unfortunate incidents of friendly fire.

[omegacouchpotatoe]

The American Soldier coined the phrase "We the Unwilling Lead by the Unqualified Dying for the Ungrateful " speaks volumes of their suffering

[johnkuncho]

I made a friend who served in Vietnam, Jim Demers. He had difficulty speaking because shrapnel damaged his vocal cords. He and his wife Nancy thought they might never have children because he had shrapnel down there as well. To their joy they had a daughter. One day Nancy freaked out as a piece of shrapnel worked its way out from under Jim's tongue. He spit it in the bathroom sink. He didn't talk much. One day he told me how he got his injuries. They got a new officer fresh out of West Point. He took them out on patrol. They were always told never go down a trail; you will get ambushed. The newbie wanted action. He lead them down a trail. They were ambushed. Men died. Among them was the newbie but there were others. Jim survived. He never fragged an officer but he told in this case it would have been the right thing to do. Jim is dead now. He worked as a janitor for a school in town. I don't think anyone of us has the right to judge these people. We have not walked in their shoes.😢

[BorderLanderr]

Army: how to we stop all the fragging?
Soldiers: remove incompetent officers.
Army: get rid of all the alcohol?
Soldiers: no, get rid of incompetent leaders.
Army: lockdowns and revoke weekend passes? Got it.
Soldier: pulls pin from grenade.

[delaseoul]

My friend’s dad was a flamethrower soldier in Vietnam. He said that out of control officers often had unfortunate accidents. And out of control didn’t necessarily mean incompetent officers, but ones who had their blood up who wanted to blatantly commit war crimes like slaughtering villages and SA’ing women. The Army was losing so many people that there were no investigations. The platoons would recommend the officer for a medal and say that he died heroically from enemy fire. The worse the officer, the more gallant they were in death, essentially.

[LookWhatJesFound]

i was the owner of a restaurant and i have a helper who was a Vietnam vet ... he drank a lot and one day he told me a story: [my platoon was coming out of the jungle and we were staring across a field. we we pretty sure there were snipers on the other side and did not want to cross the field. The lieutenant sent one of us across to scout. he was killed right away. the lieutenant then asked someone else to go, at which we told him no. he said he was going to report us to insubordination, so we killed him and left him in the jungle]. true story.

[chrisazure]

I heard of an officer who limited his men's ammo. They were nearly overrun but held out with hand-to-hand combat. He got fragged.

[Nowah]

My grandpa was a Marine Corporal during Vietnam. He said that Lieutenants who sent men out to die (even accidentally) usually got fragged

[spankrobot]

Around 1977 when I found out that a co-worker had fought in Vietnam I asked him if he thought that My Lie had really happened. He was quiet for so long that I didn't think he was going to answer. Then he said: "I personally saw at least a dozen [locations] that were at least as bad as My Lie."

[laurakastrup]

Being a Vietnamese person, and one who’s grandfather was in fact a Viet cong guerrilla. I feel sorry for the Americans, however I’m still of the belief that it was a civil war that the Americans got involved in. You did what you believed was right at the time, you served your country well, too bad your government decided to stick their finger in a conflict that didn’t serve their interests

[DAFORCEFilms]

This is exactly why you don’t fight purely idealistic wars with conscripts. You are giving these soldiers absolutely no reason to support the war effort. They didn’t want to be there, their lives were completely derailed when called to service under threat of prison, they’re fighting in a war that’s essentially just another dick-waving contest to the USSR, and they’re all well aware their commanders and politicians back home have no real concern for their individual lives. They have no incentive to fight people they had no problems with just because their government wanted to throw random civilians into a meat grinder in some insignificant conflict to oppose communism. All that’s happening is these young men are being physically and psychologically destroyed. No wonder they just started killing people.

[SurfCityVideo]

I missed Viet nam by a year. I recall reading a book about various experiences in the war. One story was written by a LT who was there in 1971. By that time the situation was pretty obvious. On a nightly basis his platoon was sent out on patrols.They would find a good position, set up a tight defensive perimeter and spend the night in total silence. They did not lose a man his entire tour. Smart officer.

[rainbowstalkerthend]

My grandpa tells me all sorts of stories about how people in charge would just disappear if they did something that no one liked. He was drafted and a lot of the other folks were too. They didn’t like officers that would basically send them to die while they stayed in the command tent. He is a very un-patriotic man now.

[sohodt]

My father was in Vietnam. Before he passed, he confided that he and others conspired to frag one of their CO'S, but not for any of the reasons this video mentioned. A new lieutenant, in in front of his men, displayed how spoiled rotten and privileged he was, eating steaks and lobster and anything he wanted every night, sleeping in a special imported bed while troops slept in cots or worse, treating everyone like they were beneath him and had a laundry list of other privileges that no other officers were even getting, plus he was completely obnoxious. These were the true reasons this CO was killed by his own men. It was personal. My father also suffered from agent orange exposure and eventually died of emphysema.

[jackfanning]

When in Vietnam, I asked many Vietnamese what a communist was. None of them knew. They asked me why we were there. None of us knew either.

[scootertramp]

Part of the problem that resulted in fragging was the simple fact that 90 day wonder officers refused to listen to the advice of their experienced sergeants who could have prevented some of the errors being made. These sergeants were, in many cases, far more familiar with the enemies tactics and knew what would likely happen if they followed their superiors orders.

[mikegeee]

My grandfather was in Vietnam. He had PTSD really bad and stabbed his commanding officer in the shoulder and bit his face. We used to stay away from him growing up in the 90s

[johnlwhite]

I ama Vietnam vet. I served with I co. 3rd battalion 7th Marines in 1969. I never saw any fragging happening in my unit. Captain Williams was my C. O. and we all had the upmost respect for him. He lead us through some difficult times but we all knew he had what it took to get us through. God Bless him for being such a great leader. To all my fellow Marines SEMPER FI

[mikehiers]

My uncle was a platoon Sgt in Nam. He talked a little about the experience but not too much. He told of a situation while out on a mission one of the privates had night watch. He said he woke up and felt something was wrong. The guy was fast asleep. He told the guy to just go to sleep and he would watch. Rather than he disciplining the guy because he could get killed by friendly fire he just let it out amongst the other soldiers. The discipline was delivered by his peers. Sounded like a wise move.

[MikeInOregon]

I was in Desert Storm as a supply warehouseman.
Two majors got into an argument about “who was in charge” to the point they pulled out their ID cards to see who got their commission first.
A college edumacation and shiny collar jewelry don’t make someone smart, mature, or wise.
Alternately, the good officers showed up and asked how things worked before pretending to be in charge.
So it’s no wonder some get oopsied.