A Rumor of War By Phillip Caputo.The Vietnam War experiences of Marine officer Phillip Caputo closely paralels the tragic circumstances of Americas involvement in Southeast Asia. Phillip Caputo was a young Lieutenant in the United State Marine Corps when President Lyndon Johnson ordered Caputo's division to South Vietnam.
The original mission for the Marines was to guard airfields, but that quickly expanded to patrolling the countryside around the airbases and beyond. Caputo became frustrated when he lost men to booby traps and ambushes and was unable to fight an enemy that preferred to fight a guerilla war.
In the end, Lieutenant Caputo was accused of ordering two of his men to murder two Viet Cong suspects. Caputo was acquited of the charges, but his descent closely mirrors America's descent into unreasoning violence at the height of the war.
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