20. Military training invoked hatred against the Vietnamese people
As America’s engagement in Vietnam lengthened in time and the number of casualties rose, training of new recruits began to be imbued with racial hatred against the enemy known as Charlie. Overall, Asians became known as “g-o-o-k-s” in military parlance, including in training situations and classrooms. Advanced Infantry training included the dehumanization of the enemy which had been a hallmark of American military training of the men who fought in the Pacific during World War II. During bayonet training, for example, trainees were exhorted to kill the g-o-o-k by the drill instructors, many of whom had prior service in Vietnam.
For most people not killing another human being is instinctive. It has to be taught. Drill instructors of the Army and Marines were tasked with preparing men to kill on the most personal level, in order to protect themselves and the other members of their unit. Brutalization and desensitizing the individual were necessary to overcome the instinct not to kill and they were applied from the moment a new recruit arrived at boot camp through the rest of his training. During the Second World War, it was revealed that only about 20% of the men who fought in combat in Europe fired at an exposed enemy. Instead, they simply fired at nothing. By the end of the Vietnam War, that number had increased, in the US Army, to 90%.
