QUESTION: On 18 Jan. 73, you orally related that at mission briefings you heard orders given in the following manner: “There is nothing of ours in that area and we need a body count.” Can you relate when, where, by whom, and to whom these orders were issued?
MUTCHLER: As the Bn Surgeon I attended all of the mission briefings. I heard that order, or similar orders, given at every briefing. I cannot recall specifically who gave that order, but I believe that it would have been the S-3 officer, the second in command of the battalion. These orders would have been given to everyone who attended the briefings which would have been the company and TF commanders.
QUESTION: Can you relate your interpretation of those orders?
MUTCHLER: In my opinion, it meant kill whatever was in the area. If it moves, kill it.
The sworn witness statement of Lawrence Jackson on January 17, 1975. The document was Exhibit 325 of the Coy Allegation.
The sworn witness statement of Colonel Manfred Kelman on January 17, 1975. The document was Exhibit 317 of the Coy Allegation. Kelman was once assigned to the 1st Battalion/327th Infantry.
The sworn witness statement of William Doyle on February 17, 1975. The document was Exhibit 135 of the Coy Allegation. It included the following comments by CID agent Bonnie Sapp:
SAPP: Doyle was contacted at his home in Saint Petersburg by Sapp, who informed Doyle that he was suspected of committing the offenses of murder and aggravated assault and informed Doyle of his rights against self-incrimination. Doyle stated that he understood his rights and then signed a waiver certificate (LA Form 3881). Throughout the subsequent interview, Doyle was evasive when asked questions relating to the offenses being investigated. Most of the time, he attempted to appear fairly congenial, but it was apparent that he was quite hostile.
SAPP: Doyle stated that while he was in Vietnam, he fought in the unit he wanted to fight in. He stated that the Tiger Force was his kind of unit—that he liked Hawkins, that Hawkins was fighting the same kind of war he was fighting, and therefore he joined the Tiger Force. Doyle would not comment further on what he meant by saying that he and Hawkins were fighting the same kind of war. He did say that one of the reasons he wanted to belong to the Tiger Force was because it was better equipped than the other units in the battalion, and therefore a man was safer in the Tiger Force.
SAPP: Doyle stated that Bruner was a wiseass who couldn’t be depended on. He stated that Bruner was always trying to tell someone what to do, that he was obnoxious, that he was always trying to make peace instead of making war, and that he couldn’t be led, but had to be driven.
SAPP: Doyle was asked if he considered Tiger Force as sort of an “elite unit within the elite,” and he stated that he certainly would. He stated that there was always body count competition between the Tiger Force and other units in the battalion. According to him, at the end of each operation, the unit that had the highest body count would get the most beer and the best food, and usually the Tiger Force came out on top with the highest body count.
The sworn witness statement of James Alexander, who interviewed Stephen Naughton on February 5, 1975. The document was Exhibit 124 of the Coy Allegation.
The sworn witness statement of Colonel Gerald Morse on March 17, 1975. The document was Exhibit 315 of the Coy Allegation.
The daily radio logs detailing Tiger Force’s daily contact with the enemy and battalion headquarters between May 1, 1967, and November 30, 1967. The document was Exhibit 438 of the Coy Allegation.
We used information from the CID “Report of Investigation” known as the final report. The report, which covered a period between May and November 1967, substantiated war crimes against Tiger Force soldiers. It included the following information:
Investigation disclosed that on an unknown date during the latter part of 1967, at an unknown location, James Barnett, by his own admission, shot with an M16 rifle a VN female detainee with the intention of killing her, at the orders of Trout, his element leader.
Investigation disclosed that during the hours of darkness, on or about 23 Jul. 67, in the Song Ve Valley, Nghia Thuan district, Quang Ngai province, during operation Hawkins (2LT Cdr 3 Jul.-Oct. 67) murdered an unarmed elderly VN male, by shooting him in the head with an XM-16E1 rifle (Car-15) and that Trout (TFRP Apr. 67-Mar. 68 and PSG in Jul. 67) struck the old man on the head with an M16 rifle.
Investigation disclosed that during the hours of darkness, on or about 24 July 67 in the Song Ve Valley, Trout murdered an unarmed wounded VN, by shooting him several times with a .45-cal. pistol, assigned to Barry Bowman (TFRP medic Jun.-Sep. 67).
Investigation based on the testimony of Mayhew and Sgt. Gerald W. Bruner disclosed that during Aug. or Sept. 67, at an unknown location, unidentified TFRP members executed a male VN detainee with M16 rifles at the orders of Doyle after the detainee was shot in the arm and beaten by Doyle during an interrogation. Also that the same detainee was repeatedly beaten and kicked by two unidentified TFRP members and that the same assailants assaulted another detainee at that location in a like manner, but stopped when Bruner interfered and threatened to shoot one of the assailants who had pointed a .45-cal. pistol at the detainee’s head and that James later indicated he had knowledge of the incident. On or about 22 Sept. 67, presumably at Phan Rang, Bruner reported the above to the Cdr, HHC, 1/ 327, believed to have been James. No information was developed that any action was taken against anyone for the offense, whether or not James reported this to the higher authorities in accordance with MACV Dir 20-4, or that the Bn Cdr ever became aware of the incident.
Investigation disclosed, based on Miller’s testimony, that in Aug.-Sept. 67, at an unknown location, unidentified TFRP members threw hand grenades into bunkers and killed an undetermined number of occupants.
Investigation disclosed that during the morning hours on or about 27 Jul. 67, in the Song Ve Valley, Sanchez witnessed the execution of two male detainees by two or three unidentified TFRP members with M16 rifles. Investigation further indicated that this execution was ordered by the officer-in-charge (Hawkins).
Investigation disclosed, based on Bruner’s testimony, that on or about 21 Sept. 67, near Tam Ky during Operation Wheeler, Sanders and Hawkins, indiscriminately and in jest, fired M16 rifles at an unarmed VN farmer who was plowing in a rice field. The farmer ran for cover and was not injured.
Investigation disclosed that between Jun.-Nov. 67 at unknown dates and locations, Ybarra on numerous occasions cut ears from dead VN bodies; possessed a set of human ears and a jar containing two ears; possessed a string with human ears which he wore on several occasions around his neck and a gag with 15-20 gold teeth, suspected to have been removed from dead bodies.
Investigation also disclosed an undetermined number of unidentified TFRP members . . . were observed in possession of human ear, scalp, and gold teeth collections. Investigation also indicated that those practices were carried out because TFRP members believed that the VN were superstitious of dead bodies that were mutilated.
Investigation disclosed that during the latter part of 1967, at an unknown location west of Chu Lai, Cogan (attached combat engineer from Co A, 326th Eng. Bn, 1st Bde, 101st Abn Div) executed an old unarmed VN male by shooting him twice in the head with a .45-cal. pistol.
The daily radio logs detailing Tiger Force’s contact with the enemy and battalion headquarters between May 1, 1967, and November 30, 1967. The document was Exhibit 438 of the Coy Allegation.
Books
Beattie, Keith. The Scar That Binds. New York: New York University Press, 2000.
Herring, George. America’s Longest War: The United States and Vietnam. New York: Knopf, 1996.
Kimball, Jeffrey. Nixon’s Vietnam War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1997.
Kissinger, Henry. Ending the Vietnam War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Valentine, Douglas. The Phoenix Program. New York: Morrow, 1990.
The Winter Soldier Investigation: An Inquiry into American War Crimes. Boston: Bea
con Press, 1972.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss were awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for their work on the Toledo Blade’s Tiger Force series. Sallah has received numerous state and national awards for his investigative work and was formerly named Best Reporter in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists. He is currently the investigations editor for the Miami Herald. Weiss spent twelve years with the Associated Press, where he won various state and national awards. He is now editor with the Charlotte Observer.
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