This February 27 is the 41st anniversary of the very stunning public revelation made by a

former US soldier who served in the Vietnam conflict concerning very horrible atrocities
committed by the US military during sweeps across a rural part of southern Vietnam at
the height of the fighting in that country. His revelation or experience, is still very highly
relevant to us today. Especially now with the western media and politicians so busily
hyperventilating and making quite some din about ‘security’ and ‘unfettered access’.

On Feb 27 1970 a former US soldier, James Henry made a public disclosure at the Los
Angeles Press Club about his time in Vietnam and the many unbelievable happenings
that occurred there. Henry was sent to Vietnam three years earlier to beef up US military
strength in that country and raise the level of fighting in the conflict. US participation in
the war in S E Asia was immoral, if not totally illegal as shown by the reports contained
in the famously leaked ‘Pentagon Papers’. Today, we are fully aware the US has learned
absolutely nothing good from all the very harsh lessons of that costly war.

Henry served with the US 4th Infantry Div which was tasked with carrying out numerous
military operations in Quang Nam province in 1967. During this time, Henry witnessed
an endless string of inhumanly cruel and violent offences or war crimes committed by
many men from his division and no one was ever available to put a stop to their actions.
Soldiers from his unit routinely treated Vietnamese civilians worse than livestock. Men
in US uniforms shot innocent farmers for sport, and raped numerous women and girls, at
times cruelly torturing and mercilessly executing them afterwards.

Sometimes, the soldiers encountered Vietcong fighters or guerillas and there were some
US casualties. Such happenings inevitably pissed them off very badly and the US soldiers
then took revenge on innocent Vietnamese villagers. After a clash, any Vietnamese man,
woman, or child who crossed their path was regarded as fair game. The civilians were
merciless mowed down with numerous bullets fired in anger, or sometimes just killed
with multiple bayonet stabbings and hard kicks to the body.

Vietnamese civilians killed by US soldiers were counted or tallied as enemy fatalities.

One time, soldiers belonging to his own unit confided that they had ambushed a group of
Vietnamese women and killed them all. Another time the soldiers came across an old
man hiding from danger and he was summarily dragged out and crushed to death under
the tracks of an armoured vehicle.

During his time in Vietnam, Henry’s unit often carried out search-and-destroy operations
in numerous villages and it was not rare for the soldiers to treat Vietnamese villagers as
playthings. Soldiers would first question the villagers and later the ‘fun’ would begin.
The villagers would be rounded up after questioning and their huts and belongings
trampled or even set on fire. Females would get molested by individual soldiers without
any commander or captain or squad leader interfering. On one occasion, soldiers ‘played’
with a young girl and then led her out fully naked to a gathering of other villagers.
Pushing her to the ground, the soldiers then opened fire at everyone present.
Blood and flesh flew about as if hell had just broken loose. The incident burned a very
deep and lasting impression on Henry. When he completed his tour of duty, Henry went
to meet a Army legal officer to report the atrocities. He was told to keep his mouth shut
and referred to another person. No further action was taken on the matter.

After Henry was fully discharged, he decided to end the silence. He began to publish the
accounts of his personal experiences in Vietnam plus all the gory details of the numerous
atrocities committed by US soldiers there. Henry also made his public disclosure of the
events at the Los Angeles Press Club.

The revelations made by Henry and a few other former soldiers about events in Vietnam
proved that the US military was (and still is) one very great killing machine. And a very
most merciless one, too. US soldiers executed prisoners and raped and tortured women
and girls, even the very young ones. Such tales of atrocities were not just confined only to
Vietnam. Long before the conflicts in S E Asia took place, US soldiers were present
when similar terrible atrocities occurred in China, the Philippines, Latin America, Europe
and Korea. The book, ‘Taken by Force’, vividly narrates the rapes and sexual assaults
committed by US soldiers duing WW2. The total tally was tens of thousands of cases.
The same thing has happened in Iraq and other places even today. The world must never
forget this very mighty killing and raping machine. Not even for a day. Because this
machine is still very eagerly hunting and searching for new victims. Even right now.
To hell with ‘full access’ and ‘firm allies’ and the many other catchphrases justifying US
hegemony and the unbridled hypocrisy of the western media and all the US generals .

All the free and sovereign nations of this world must be aware of the need to keep the US
military out of your lands, your cities, ports, harbours and villages and hamlets. Never
ever get blindsided by the very virulent western propaganda and become turned into
completely defenceless victims ! Learn the good lessons offered by people like Henry !