Julius Korngold:  

, he was short and thin. He survived the most dangerous job in the war -“ tunnel rat. Tunnel rats cleared enemy underground complexes. These complexes were filled with booby traps and, unfortunately, children used as shields. Myron told me horrible stories of having to kill kids caught between him and the enemy in tight, dark tunnels. He had 2 kids himself back home and was now getting intensive psychiatric counseling. In basic training I was told I would be a tunnel rat. I was just the right size to crawl through those underground mazes, I was told. Only my civilian computer skills saved me from that fate and I respected Myron immensely for surviving that hellish nightmare. But yet...better him than me. In contrast to these men was the company clerk, Phillip. Imagine Major Burns in the MASH television show - only worse. Phillip ran monthly gripe sessions supposedly to field complaints from the troops. We knew what the real purpose was - to spy on us and identify potential troublemakers. Not attending the meeting instantly marked you as a troublemaker. Some still did not attend. Mostly friends of Strickland. One day, I was told to attend another meeting. When I arrived, I was surprised to see Strickland there but no sign of Phillip. This was going to be interesting. When about 20 people were seated, the door was closed. That was strange. Meetings were usually about 40 people. Strickland stood up and simply said, "We' are gonna frag the staff." He was talking about murdering the Commander and his staff. It was becoming more common in Nam. Units with unpopular officers were simply killing them. It was called fragging because one of the weapons of choice was a fragmentation grenade. A few clapped their hands. Most of us sat in shocked silence. Lots of questions shot through my mind. Was he serious? What terrible crime had been committed? Why is Strickland even telling us this? I kept my thoughts to myself and listened. Someone said they deserved it for sending people TDY. Hmmm. It was hard to argue with that. But what was the priority here? I just wanted to go home. This was either going to get me killed or in the stockades forever. Strickland was crazy. I wanted no part of it. I had to speak up and did. A defining moment in my life. I was risking being fragged myself for opposing Strickland and his plan. I did not speak long. Just pointed out the consequences of carrying through the murders. Some people nodded in agreement. Strickland just scowled. He asked what we should do instead. I said I didn no™t know. Someone said we should think about it and the 5-minute meeting broke up unceremoniously. The next day the Commander's car was painted with racing stripes. I had saved lives. Better for them AND me. Copyright 2013