UNDERSTANDING NAM

After 15 years of reading reviews (both literary and film) of the Vietnam War, I am still confused by the fact that none of the reviewers seem to understand the Vietnam experience.

Although Oliver Stone’s film is a fine piece of work, it simply is an inaccurate portrait of life as a “grunt.” Inter-unit politics and personal conflicts were the exception, rather than the rule. Nobody had the time to attempt to control the constant flow of 20-year-old replacements. For the average grunt, the focus was on survival first, the mission second.

I served in Vietnam in 1966-’67; from September of 1967 to September of 1968, and from September of 1969 to August of 1970. I was always in the infantry, beginning as a point man and ending as a company commander. I held, at some point, every job in an infantry company.

Although I knew of several isolated instances, I never saw an American intentionally killed by another American. I never saw a rape. Since we never left a body behind, I feel confident of my facts.

My guess is that if you were to poll 100 infantrymen today, they would primarily comment on the comradeship of a year in Vietnam, and I would bet that the great majority would consider it to be the single most important experience of their lives.

P.S. In an effort to establish my credibility, that a partial list of my decorations include two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.

PETER M. VALTZ

San Diego