Submitted by: Leo Deege

Category: Books

I survived five years of World War II Nazi occupation in Holland and in 1955 my family emigrated to the U.S. In 1962, I joined the U.S. Army and eventually rose to Captain in charge of Howitzer Battery, 3rd Squadron, of the 11th Cavalry.

In Vietnam we were constrained by strict rules of engagement, which often resulted in mediocre results. My main focus is the 1967 Battle of the Iron Triangle to illustrate the effects of those rules.

One significant determinant of tactics is always the consideration of how much collateral damage is acceptable. In World War II, our Air Force eventually used napalm and atomic bombs to destroy cities in both Germany and Japan causing hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.

In Vietnam we made concerted efforts [with some widely publicized exceptions, such as in the My Lai massacre] to avoid civilian casualties, because it was essential for us to win over the South Vietnamese people. At the time we had no idea that this was probably a fool’s errand.

About the author:

Leo remembers the chaotic times when Germany occupied The Netherlands. After graduating from High School he and his family emigrated to the U.S. where he attended UCLA. He befriended the famous Dutch movie star, Philip Dorn, who encouraged him in swimming and water polo which resulted in his scoring goals for UCLA and during the 1960 Olympic trials. In 1962 Leo enlisted in the U.S. Army, graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and was later inducted in the OCS Hall of Fame. As an artillery Captain he commanded Howitzer Battery, 3rd Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Leo received a Master’s Degree from GWU and in 1995 retired from the U.S. Agency for International Development.