Guilty Minority

The television scene flickered into millions of American homes in all its grim and ghastly detail. There, before CBS news cameras set up at a 1st Infantry Division base 50 miles north of Saigon, were three dead Viet Cong whose ears had been cut off by souvenir-hunting G.I.s. "You must understand," said CBS Newsman Don Webster, reporting from the scene, "the emotional state of some of these men, and their anger and sorrow at the loss of their buddies. A few days from now, these soldiers will probably be as aghast as anyone at what they've done." In the first U.S. war-crimes trial to come out of Viet Nam, two G.I.s involved in the mutilations have now been found guilty by a special court-martial of "bringing discredit upon the armed forces."

Taking Turns. War atrocities, of course, are not new in Viet Nam. From the first, the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong have made terror part of their overall war tactic, decapitating village chiefs, assassinating pacification workers, looting and leveling hamlets and murdering American war prisoners. On the American side, G.I.s generally resist the temptation to retaliate, but a minority now and then will cut off a few fingers or ears from the enemy dead as trophies. Such was the case with Specialist Fourth Class George Pawlaczyk, 22, a reporter and photographer for the 1st Infantry Division newspaper, and Specialist Fifth Class Franklin Passantino, 21, a muscular combat medic who has won both a Bronze and Silver Star and been recommended for another Bronze Star. Pawlaczyk and Passantino were with the 1st Battalion's 18th Regiment on Oct. 7, when it engaged in a fierce battle with the 271st Viet Cong Regiment nine miles northwest of the division's forward base at Lai Khe. During the burial of the 25 enemy dead, CBS Newsman Webster and Cameraman John Smith arrived on the scene from Saigon. Then--perhaps to oblige Smith's need for dramatic footage or their own need for a grisly revenge--Passantino and some other, still unidentified G.I.s took turns cutting the ears off three of the dead enemy soldiers. At his court-martial, Pawlaczyk testified that Smith offered him a knife. "I attempted to cut the dead man's ear," Pawlaczyk said, "being careful not to look at his face and trying to keep my hand from shaking. Since the knife was dull, I decided to stop. I did not feel very good and gave the whole thing up."

Special Note. In their final decision, the six-man court-martial found Pawlaczyk guilty of violating the "laws of war," as laid down by the Geneva Convention, and of discrediting the armed forces. He was thereupon demoted to private and ordered to forfeit two-thirds of his net pay for two months. In Passantino's case, the court took special note of his heroic war record and--though finding him guilty, like Pawlaczyk, of discrediting the armed forces --lifted the specific charge of committing a war crime. He was then demoted to specialist fourth class and fined two-thirds of his net pay for four months.

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