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Fragging

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In the U.S. military, fragging refers to the act of attacking a superior officer in one's chain of command with the intent to kill that officer. The term originated during the Vietnam War and was most commonly used to mean the assassination of an unpopular officer of one's own fighting unit. Killing was effected by means of a fragmentation grenade,[1] hence the term.

The most common motive for choosing a fragmentation grenade or similar device is a perpetrator's desire to avoid identification and the associated consequences at either the individual level (e.g., punishment by one's superiors) or the collective level (e.g., dishonor brought to one's unit): where a grenade is thrown in the heat of battle, soldiers can claim that the grenade landed too close to the person they "accidentally" killed, that another member of the unit threw the grenade, or that an enemy soldier threw it back. Unlike a firearm projectile, an exploded hand grenade cannot be readily traced to anyone, with ballistic forensics or other means. The grenade is destroyed in the explosion, and the characteristics of the shrapnel cannot be traced to a specific grenade or soldier.

Motivation

Fragging most often involved the murder of a commanding officer (C.O.) or a senior noncommissioned officer perceived as unpopular, harsh, inept or overzealous. As the Vietnam War became more unpopular, soldiers became less keen to go into harm's way and preferred leaders with a similar sense of self-preservation. If a C.O. was incompetent, fragging the officer was considered a means to the end of self-preservation for the men serving under him. Fragging might also occur if a commander freely took on dangerous or suicidal missions, especially if he was deemed to be seeking glory for himself. The motive of individual self-preservation was often obstructive to the goals of the overall war effort. Fragging in the military was not a secret in the lower enlisted-rank soldiers. Sometimes a warning would be given to the target by placing a grenade pin on his bed. Fragging would take place if his actions continued as before.

The very idea of fragging served to warn junior officers to avoid the ire of their enlisted men through recklessness, cowardice or lack of leadership. Junior officers in turn could arrange the murder of senior officers when finding them incompetent or wasting their men's lives needlessly. George Cantero, who served as a medic in Vietnam during the early 1970s, explained that incompetent officers who gave dangerous orders and refused to listen to reason or threats were fragged because that was the only way to get a new (presumably safer) commanding officer.[2] Underground GI newspapers sometimes listed bounties offered by units for the fragging of unpopular commanding officers.[3]

Throughout the course of the Vietnam War, fragging was reportedly common. There are documented cases of at least 230 American officers killed by their own troops, and as many as 1,400 other officers' deaths could not be explained.[4] Between 1970 and 1971 alone, there were 363 cases of "assault with explosive devices" against officers in Vietnam.[5]

Incidents of fragging have been recorded as far back as the 18th century Battle of Blenheim.

Notable incidents

  • 1704 — Battle of Blenheim: An unpopular major of the 15th Regiment of Foot was shot in the head by his own men after the battle had been won.[6]
  • 1815 — Battle of Quatre Bras: The commander of the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, Colonel John Cameron of Fassfern, was shot and killed by a man whom he had recently flogged.[6]
  • World War I: An unpopular sergeant was killed when one of his men came up behind him and dropped an unpinned hand grenade down his trousers.[7]
  • Vietnam War: On 21 April 1969, a grenade was thrown into the company office of K Company, 9th Marines, at Quang Tri Combat Base, RVN. First Lieutenant Robert T. Rohweller died of the wounds he received in the explosion. Private Reginald F. Smith was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to forty years' imprisonment. On 15 March 1971, a grenade tossed into an officer billet at Bien Hoa Army Airfield killed Lieutenants Thomas A. Dellwo and Richard E. Harlan of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Private E-2 Billy Dean Smith was charged with killing the two officers but acquitted in November 1972.[8] Soldiers serving under Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. secretly considered fragging him after he marched them into danger, resulting in a soldier's death.[9]
  • Iraq War: Captain Phillip Esposito and 1st Lieutenant Louis Allen were killed on June 7, 2005, by a Claymore mine placed on Esposito's office window at Forward Operating Base Danger in Tikrit, Iraq. The unit's supply sergeant was charged with the murder, but was subsequently acquitted at court martial.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "frag". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. To throw a fragmentation grenade at one's superior officer {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |cite= ignored (help)
  2. ^ “Interview with George Cantero, 1981.” 05/12/1981. WGBH Media Library & Archives, Web. 3 Nov 2010.
  3. ^ Robert D. Heinl, Jr. (7 June 1971). "The collapse of the armed forces: Bounties and evasions". Armed Forces Journal.
  4. ^ Hedges, Chris (2003). What Every Person Should Know About War. Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-5512-7.
  5. ^ Hixson, Walter (2000). Military aspects of the Vietnam conflict. Taylor & Francis. p. 154. ISBN 0815335326.
  6. ^ a b Regan, G. (2004). More Military Blunders. Carlton Books. ISBN 0844427102. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  7. ^ Regan, G. Backfire: a history of friendly fire from ancient warfare to the present day. Robson Books, 2002.
  8. ^ George Lepre, Fragging: Why U.S. Soldiers Assaulted Their Officers in Vietnam (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press), 89-93, 51-57.
  9. ^ {{cite news|title=Daily Mail: The Monster of the My Lai Massacre – Oct 6, 2007|url. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=485983&in_page_id=1811%7Caccessdate=2008-04-15 | location=London | date=6 October 2007}}
  10. ^ von Zielbauer, Paul (February 21, 2009). "After Guilty Plea Offer, G.I. Cleared of Iraq Deaths" (Newspaper article). New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2009.

Further reading

  • Brush, Peter (July 28, 2010). "The Hard Truth About Fragging". Vietnam Point of View. HistoryNet.com. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  • Lepre, George. Fragging: Why U.S. Soldiers Assaulted their Officers in Vietnam. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2011.
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