NOVANEWS
by Keith W. Nolan
September 11, 2010
by Karen St. John
by Karen St. John
See larger image Search and Destroy: The Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Vietnam: 1-1 Cav, 1967-1968 (Hardcover)By (author) Keith W. Nolan
Mid-America may not have known the real truth of how the war was going in Vietnam until after the Tet Offensive of 1968. With the horrific assault on our troops (Khe Sahn and Que Son Valley come quickly to mind), it was hard to deny or hide the body count of our dead. It was also the time of a series of brutal attacks upon Vietnamese citizens, some becoming collectively known as the My Lai Massacre. In 1968, there was no longer any way to deny it: war is hell for all living things, especially the mind.
The hell of the Vietnam War from 1967 – 1968 as lived through the armored cavalry squadron of 1/1 Cav, is told by Keith W. Nolan in his Search and Destroy, the Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Viet Nam, 1/1 Cav, 1967-1968. To clarify, this war narrative is not about the infantrymen of the 1st Cavalry Division. The men in Search and Destroy are “dragoons” of the 1st Cavalry Regiment…and their tanks. The Cavalrymen’s Poem, “Fiddler’s Green,” is included in the book.
Nolan gives a powerful introduction to Search and Destroy: “Forty years removed from the events in question, a certain amnesia, bordering on whitewashing, has developed regarding the realities of General William Westmoreland’s search-and-destroy war in South Viêt Nam. A vivid reminder seems in order.” The words “whitewashing” and “vivid reminder” trigger a keen curiosity about the 1/1Cav from 1967-1968, and the book does not disappoint.
From Chu Lai in August of 1967, Cigar Island in October, Que Son Mountains and the Pineapple Forest in November, to the fight for Hill 34 in the Tet counteroffensive, on to the battles of Tam Ky and Tien Phuoc in 1968, Nolan’s narrative is well researched and explicit. His writing is fluid and articulate, and the massive amount of historic account is placed in chronological order. Through the use of multiple interviews with the troopers themselves, combat and civilian instances are described and names are given. There are even suggestions that some of the men who earned medals of distinction did not actually deserve them. Or, that some officers had played so fast and loose with the awards system that future recommendations were tainted. It is a living testimony to Nolan’s integrity that these tough, hardened troopers who went through the hell of Vietnam and made it back could trust this writer to tell their stories.
Most casualties are simply not reported in numbers but with names and descriptions, like the staff sergeant, his crew and gunner who were subjected to an explosion; eyeglasses, an ear and someone’s left hand and a finger still wearing a ring, were the only pieces left of the young men after their tank was blown up. The daily brutalities facing the troopers became almost unbearable. The men did what they had to do to survive. As one trooper noted, ”…it did a combat soldier no good to think deeply about what he was doing. It was not the way to keep one’s sanity.”
A few photos highlight the men’s camaraderie but also their violent outbursts toward the enemy. Lt. Col. Richard Lawrence summed up his thoughts on the ruthlessness towards civilians after troops went rampaging through Son Log during the night, beating up inhabitants and sexually assaulting young girls: “…war is tough enough on the hearts and minds of soldiers. As leaders, we cannot let them sink to animal levels. We have to do all we can to maintain our humanity in combat.” Lawrence had zero tolerance for the offenders.
Interrogation on captured Vietnamese is described, no photographic evidence duly noted, but statements were made of VC (Viet Cong) being strung up and hanged from trees until they died, with reasonable doubt as to whether all those labeled as VC were actually the enemy.
Troopers who survived being VC prisoners of war told of the cruelty and horrors they encountered at the hands of the enemy, and the tortured deaths of their brothers-in-arms. The sad death of First Sergeant Williams, captured shortly before the Tet Offensive, describes how this “magnificent old soldier’s spirit had long since been extinguished by the Viet Cong.”
The growing wave of dislike many Americans were feeling for the war is well noted – not intrusively, but eerily matter-of-factly, as in a Lieutenant’s arrival home with shouts of “How many babies you have to burn to get those (ribbons)?” News of the Democratic convention in Chicago reached the troops and did not sit well with everyone.
Captain Logan wrote home, “I have no idea who will be elected….he is going to sell me out and about ½ million other people here.” Logan was referring to the military strategies seemingly run by politicians “who were unwilling to see the job through…” Logan would also come to see how the Viet cong were “busy as bees moving in cadre and little committees in all the villages” setting up mini governments while talks of a cease fire was going on with the politicians. Logan wrote home, “…we have to dispose of all these little groups before we agree to a cease fire or everything we have fought for goes down the drain.”
As the United States became divided on whether to be in Vietnam or not, some troopers lost heart. They were less willing “to die in a war the country had turned against.” But Nolan’s account is based on respect for the troopers and he is equally quick to add, “Still, the courage of the individual trooper would never falter.”
It is easy to get wrapped up in this book and to feel as if the troopers were no longer strangers. So it is with relief that Nolan added a “Home from War” epilogue to tell what happened to the men after the war, and where they are now. The epilogue is riveting. There is a special section listing those who died and for many, the circumstances of their deaths are also noted.
Author Keith Nolan published his first book on the Vietnam War in 1973, when he was only nineteen years old. He continued writing about the Vietnam War all his adult life. He will never see how his work, Search and Destroy, the Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Viet Nam, 1/1 Cav, 1967-1968, is received by the reading public, however. Search and Destroy is Nolan’s last work. He lost a long battle with cancer in February of 2009. One of the troopers frequently mentioned throughout Search and Destroy, Richard Brummett, added an “In Memoriam” that is a personal tribute to Nolan’s character.
The veterans who served in Vietnam and their family and friends will be the ones who determine the impact of Nolan’s last written words, and if they honor the men of the 1/1Cav. Perhaps Nolan’s intent for the book can be found in the first paragraph of Appendix G, entitled, “Healing”:
“Viêt Nam and America are bound by the peculiar ties that connect people who have engaged one another in bloody combat. As long as men and women from both sides still live who have stalked each other with mortal intent there will be a lingering trail of pain and anger. For many veterans of the war, there is simply no forgetting. Nor should there be.”
