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From: "C.V. Compton Shaw" <>
Subject: [[SAR-TALK]] Re: [[SAR-TALK]] Infantryman
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 08:09:02 -0600
References: <125.1fecff9f.2bb27b9d@aol.com>


I served as an Infantryman in Vietnam with the U.S. Army from 1969-1970. However, I
did not fit your profile. I was 24 years old when I arrived in Vietnam. I was a
graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, a school now considered only below
Harvard and Princeton in scholastic prestige. I came from an upper middle or upper
class back ground. I listened to classical music. I had no trouble spelling. I had
an extremely high score on the scholastic achievement test. I dug a lot of foxholes
for the purpose of staying alive. Contrary to your assertions about rigid,
unthinking, and nonjudgmental behavior of combat infantryman, the best combat
infantrymen had to make good individual judgments and think for themselves. Neither
the men they commanded nor the other infantrymen they were with would trust nor
would soldier with a person who did not have good independent individual judgment
such as to carry out the mission without unnecessarily endangering their fellow
soldiers. You learn as an infantryman that you are a part of a team in which
trust,character, and cooperation are paramount for the accomplishment of the mission
and for survival. You do not obey orders which are clearly destructive of the
mission, unethical, and/or suicidal. Emotional trauma, as you have stated, was a
part of being a combat infantryman. Unfortunately I disagree with your assertion
that combat infantryman ask nothing in return. The Magna Charta, the charter of
individual liberty and freedom, was formulated by English veterans who demanded just
compensation for their military service. American Combat veterans should do the
same. They need to demand to be compensated for their sacrifices. Unfortunately upon
their return from Vietnam, many veterans faced discrimination, oppression, and
insult from both the public and the government rather than just compensation for
their sacrifices. Those who did not serve and/or who would not have to serve and/or
who refused to serve often received preferential treatment by law and custom in
employment, education, and otherwise. The politicians used the most unethical means
to denigrate the returning veterans and to unjustly elevate the most base elements
in our society in order to gain political power by appealing to their most biased
and base prejudices.

Mr. C.V. Compton Shaw; U.S. Army;4th Infantry Division; 2/8th Infantry; Republic of
Vietnam 1969-1970
Member Dallas,Texas Chapter SAR; Member Somerset Chapter Magna Charta Barons

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