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by Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss Tiger Force is the code name for an elite platoon of the lst Battalion 325th Infantry stationed in Vietnam. Its Executive Officer, Major David Hackworth organized a 45 man volunteer team in 1966. Their mission was to seek out the enemy compounds and secret hiding places. The Tiger Force in 1966 became one of the war's most highly decorated units in the army but it was not without heavy causalities. Then for several months beginning in May 1967 things went amok. Tiger Force engaged in an orgy of atrocities which ranged from taking ears and scalps and teeth of the "enemy" to the mass killing of unarmed civilians. The estimate count of victims is in the hundreds. From 1971 to 1975 the Army conducted an investigation that documented the crimes and decided that "nothing beneficial could result from prosecuting the platoon". Responding to a tip, Toleda Blade reporters Michael Salla, Mitch Weiss and John Mahr started interviewing former Tiger Force members. These interviews resulted in a series of newspaper articles which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for Investigative Reporting. These articles are the basis for this book. This is a chilling account of the horrors of war and what effect these horrors may have on soldiers. It portrays an uncontrollable and uncontrolled segment of the military. It is also a condemnation of the government in covering up this blot on soldiers and the military. It is a tribute to the intense investigative journalism that brought this shameful episode to the light of day. |
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Tiger Force