Army Disputes Blade's Version of Vietnam Investigation

By: Joe Strupp A recent investigation by The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, revealing details of a 1967 slaughter of dozens of civilians in a Vietnamese village by a U.S. Army platoon has prompted Army officials to look again at its long-dormant investigation into the incident, the newspaper reported this morning.

However, an Army spokesman, speaking to E & P, disputes the paper's characterization of this as a re-opening of the case and takes issue with certain other aspects of the story.

According to the paper, its series, which ran over four days last week and revealed that a 1970's Army investigation concluded 18 soldiers committed war crimes between May and November 1967, including murder and assault, caused the military to reopen the case.

"Facing criticism for dropping an investigation of an elite U.S. platoon that slaughtered Vietnamese villagers, Army officials have reopened the case to find out why no one was charged despite evidence that the unit violently lost control in 1967," the paper's Friday story began. "Reversing an earlier decision, Army investigators now are examining thousands of documents from a case that has been buried in the government's archives for decades."

But Army Spokesman Joe Burlas said the military had not reopened the case, claiming it is merely comparing the Blade's series to the previous investigation. "We are taking a look to see if there is anything new -- that is not the same as reopening the case," Burlas told E&P. "We are looking at what the Toledo Blade reported and comparing it to the original Criminal Investigation Command report." He also said the paper's contention that his office received a "flood of calls" was incorrect, claiming he took "fewer than 10."

Blade Executive Editor Ron Royhab stood by the paper's story, saying "our reporters reported what he [Burlas] told them" about a new Army look at the case.

When asked if the military review might prompt the case to be "reopened," Burlas said, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Burlas said he had read the four-part series and found it "interesting" but said he could not "confirm anything they stated in there."

The Blade's series, which followed eight months of investigation by three Blade reporters and a photographer, revealed that Army investigators had spent more than four years probing the actions of a 101st Airborne platoon known as Tiger Force, concluding that the unit had engaged in numerous war crimes involving destruction and murder of civilians. Soldiers told Army investigators in sworn statements that they took part in or witnessed atrocities, the paper said, including the killing of an untold number of men, women, and children.

But, the series explained, the investigation ended in 1975 and no charges were ever filed against any of the 18 soldiers.

Burlas explained that the original allegations against the soldiers did not surface until four years after the fact, surpassing the two-year military statute of limitations on many of the charges.

In addition, 13 of the 18 soldiers were no longer on active duty at the time of the inquiry, Burlas said, making it difficult to prosecute them. Of the remaining five, he said the cases against three of them had been deemed to have insufficient evidence for prosecution, but would not speculate on the remaining two.