Word: rangers
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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SLOAN'S war is sadistic, culminating in his killing of an entire Ranger unit that is attempting to rape the survivors of a napalm attack on a village. Pulling his carbine's trigger, he observes with curiosity the jerking marionette-like motions of his victims: "It never ceases to seem incongruous that real guns make only a vague clack rather than the bang and echo represented in movies," Receiving the Cross of Gallantry, he returns to the States...
...Will I go back there?" a twenty-two-year-old Ranger, two days back from Laos, asked...
...airpower. For their part, senior South Vietnamese officers say that Laos has exposed some leadership problems even in crack ARVN units, and the lesson, they judge, is that Vietnamization has proceeded "too fast." Moreover, it may be six months or more before the seven first-rank ARVN Ranger, Marine and 1st Infantry battalions put out of action so far (another four battalions have endured moderate to heavy casualties) can be brought back to strength...
...arrived over a scene of total chaos. As Hayden and Walters carved circles in the sky several thousand feet above the fire-scarred hilltop, they watched errant rockets from choppers already on the scene blazing into friendly and enemy positions alike. Other ships, including Medevac Hueys, milled around the Ranger landing zone but were unable to penetrate the murderous curtain of fire...
Hayden was lucky at Ranger, where, as he puts it, "nobody knew what was going on.'' In the week-long battle for the hilltop fire base, a number of U.S. helicopters were shot down, and more than a few of those that wobbled back to Khe Sanh were thoroughly shot up. Since the Laotian operation began on Feb. 8, the loss rate of U.S. helicopters -normally about one per 16,000 sorties -has quadrupled. So far during the Laos operation, Communist gunners have knocked out no fewer than 61 helicopters, about 10% of the fleet originally committed...