Word of Honor (78 page)

Tyson listened to Pierce eliciting Brandt's opinion of him, and Tyson was surprised at what a high opinion Specialist Four Brandt had of Lieutenant Tyson.

Pierce went on in this vein for some time, and Tyson thought it was smart of Pierce to sandwich this personal element in between the burial mound incident and what was to come.

Pierce said, "Doctor, one final question before our expected recess. As the platoon's medic, did you feel that Lieutenant Tyson was adequately concerned with the mental and physical condition of his men?"

Corva stood. "Objection, your honor. The witness has no psychiatric training, to the best of my knowledge, and I should point out that, at the time we are discussing, he was a twenty-three-year-old medical corpsman, not a middle-aged doctor."

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"Objection sustained. Colonel Pierce, do you wish a recess at this time?"

Pierce had no intention of breaking for lunch on that note. He replied,

"I would like to rephrase the question, your honor. "

"Please do."

Pierce turned to Brandt. "Doctor-"

Again Corva was on his feet. "Objection, your honor."

"To what?"

"Your honor, I didn't mind when Colonel Pierce addressed the witness as

'Doctor' the first thirty or forty times. But now that he's trying to elicit some sort of retrospective medical opinion, I think he's trying to give that opinion more worth than it has by referring to the witness as 'Doctor. ' I I

Sproule thought a moment and said, "Objection sustained. Colonel Pierce, perhaps you'd like some time to rephrase your question. This court will recess until thirteenthirty hours.

In the BOQ, Tyson and Corva sat across from each other in the Swedish Modem armchairs, a light-wood coffee table between them. Corva had the Officers' Club send over box lunches and explained to Tyson, "It's on your bill. I gave them your number."

"Thanks." Tyson added, "Short recess."

"Yes. Sproule could see that Brandt and Pierce will be at it for some time. I've seen testimony at courts-martial go until ten at night. No one has to worry about the jurors getting annoyed. Or overtime for the court reporter or guards. " Corva dug into a plate of cold pasta salad. He said, "Tell me all about the good doctor's moral corruption. Was that the reason for the incident of the leeches in the rice paddy?"

Tyson nodded. "Did you ever participate in any of those cordon operations with the Vietnamese National Police?"

Corva nodded. "Just one. That was one too many."

"Right you are. My company did about four or five of them. Well, after we cordoned off the village before dawn, the National Police-4he fucking Gestapo-would arrive in American choppers. Then they would go strutting in

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with their crisp uniforms to conduct search and interrogation operations. Is that the way they did it where you were?"

"Pretty much."

"No Americans were allowed in the village. What went on between the police and the villagers was not for American eyes. But American officers could sometimes enter to discuss coordination with the Gestapo commander. I entered a few times. Brandt, as a medic, could get in, too."

Corva nodded. "He enjoyed himself, did he?"

"Did he? He was in heaven. Talk about tactless strip searches. These police goons did some strip searches and intrusions that weren't in any field manual I've ever seen. And, of course, there was the torture-the whippings, the water treatments. I myself was disgusted by what these sadists were doing in the guise of a counterinsurgency operation. Brandt, on the other hand, was ecstatic. It was strictly forbidden to take pictures, of course, but Brandt had a cozy relationship with these National Police pigs. On the particular operation that led to his leech bath, I saw him snapping away with his camera. He didn't see me. Kelly was with me, and we followed him into a hootch. I caught him with two National Policemen, raping three young girls."

Corva shook his head. "Hearts and minds."

"You want to hear all the details, or do you want to finish your lunch first?"

"What do you think?"

"Have your lunch first."

The court reconvened at one-thirty, and Colonel Pierce said to Brandt, "You are reminded that you are still under oath. "

Brandt nodded an acknowledgment.

Colonel Pierce apparently had not thought of a way to rephrase his last question because he asked instead, "Dr. Brandt, you have testified that your platoon had knowledge that they were approaching a hospital in the village of An Ninh Ha, a western suburb of Hue."

"That is correct."

"What was the platoon's reaction to this?"

Corva stood. "Objection, your honor. How is the witness WORD OF HONOR e 607

supposed to gauge the reaction of nineteen men strung out over a distance of perhaps a quarter kilometer?"

"Objection sustained." He looked at Pierce. "Could you rephrase the question?"

"Yes, your honor." He looked at Brandt. "Did you hear any reaction to the information that you were on your way to a hospital?"

Brandt crossed his legs, and Tyson saw he wore light gray loafers with little tassels on them. His socks were almost sheer, and Tyson could see his white skin underneath.

Brandt replied, "During the rest breaks, I would often walk up and down the file to check on the physical condition of the platoon. During this time I heard reactions from several men about Lieutenant Tyson's decision to make this hospital an intermediate objective on our march to Hue."

"How would you characterize these reactions that you heard?"

"Mostly positive. The men seemed excited by the prospect of encountering some civilization."

"So they had no preconceived negative feelings about this?"

"On the contrary. I heard Lieutenant Tyson give a few of the men incentives. He spoke about hot chow, showers, and women."

"Could you be more specific?"

"I heard him speak to a man named Simcox and tell him that he might get a blow job at the hospital."

A few people in the spectator pews gasped. A man laughed, then became abruptly quiet.

Pierce waited a moment, then said, "Did you take this to mean that Lieutenant Tyson was suggesting to Simcox that he ... Simcox ... how do I phrase this ... ?" Pierce smiled self-consciously.

Dr. Brandt volunteered a clarification. "A blow job, of course, is slang for fellatio. Lieutenant Tyson was telling Simcox that there was a chance of having this performed on him-Simcox-at the hospital. I assume Lieutenant Tyson meant by a woman."

"Thank you. Did you have the impression that Lieutenant Tyson-meant to commandeer this hospital?"

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"I don't know if he did or not. But by his statements about women and other comforts at the hospital, the men became quite aroused, and as the patrol moved toward the hospital, the expectations of the men became somewhat unrealistic. -

Pierce continued mining this vein, and Tyson thought it was rather smart of Pierce to show that the men had positive feelings before reaching the hospital and that these feelings were a result of their platoon leader promising them rape, pillage, and plunder. Neither Pierce nor Brandt was going to be satisfied with proving only that he was a murderer. They wanted, also, to show that he was without integrity, venal, and debased.

And there were two hundred people listening to this, including the press, people he knew, his wife, son, and mother. He wondered why he hadn't broken Brandt's neck.

The examination of Steven Brandt went on. Six or seven times Pierce drew the platoon to the hospital, then pulled them back with tangential or background questions posed to Brandt. Brandt seemed in no hurry either.

He answered each of Pierce's questions fully and apparently objectively.

When Pierce finally took the court to the open square in front of the hospital, everyone was ready not only to hear but also to believe what Dr. Steven Brandt was going to say.

Pierce asked, "How many shots rang out from the vicinity of the hospital?"

"About five or six in quick succession."

"Could you tell approximately where they were coming from?"

"No. And neither could anyone around me."

"So you can't say for sure if they actually came from the hospital?"

"No. I I

"But in Picard's book and in previous testimony, it was stated that the hospital was the source of the sniper fire. -

"I never told Picard it was. I don't know where Picard heard that. I thought the hospital was the least likely place an enemy sniper would choose."

"Did anyone around you at the time believe the firing was coming from the hospital?"

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"Yes. Lieutenant Tyson did. He directed some fire back toward the hospital.

I almost never got involved in tactical questions, but this time I asked him to stop the firing at the hospital. "

"What did he reply?"

"He told me to mind my own business. Which I did. We had two wounded and one killed."

"Could you name them?"

"Yes. Robert Moody was wounded in the leg. A light flesh wound. Arthur Peterson was hit here--- Brandt pointed to a spot on his right side, just below the armpit. "The bullet passed through the ... Can I use medical terms?"

Pierce smiled in sympathy. "Best not."

"Well, then, through the body and exited a bit lower on the other side.

Both lungs were involved. Peterson was drowning in his own blood."

"And the third man?"

"Yes . . . Larry Cane . . . he was shot in the heart and died instantly. "

"And you treated these men under fire?"

"No. The firing had stopped almost as soon as it had begun, and I was in no danger," said Brandt modestly.

"What happened after the firing stopped?"

"The platoon directed a few more rounds of fire at the hospital. There were no glass windows. Only screens and louver shutters, and I recall these being shot up. As I said, I still didn't think the five or six rounds that hit the three men came from there. Finally,, Lieutenant Tyson gave a cease-fire. "

"Then what happened?"

"Then Lieutenant Tyson ordered four or five men to maneuver toward the hospital. They did and got right to the front door without anyone firing at them. I should point out that, as we approached the hospital, there were white sheets hanging from three or four of the windows, which I took to be a sign of peace or a signal that the hospital was neutral. Also, as I said, there was the Red Cross flag flying on a staff from the front of the building."

"And there was no resistance from anyone inside the hospital?"

"None at all."

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Tyson listened as Pierce backed up a bit, then took everyone to the threshold of the hospital again, then back again to the square in front of the hospital, then forward over the threshold into the front lobby. Pierce was pushing buttons on his tape recorder, forward, back, forward, and Brandt was responding like an audio tape. Corva objected now and then, but even Tyson could tell he didn't object to all he could have. He was giving Pierce a lot of leeway, and Pierce was growing a little cockier, letting Brandt make statements that Brandt would have a rough time explaining on the crossexamination.

Finally Pierce got the platoon up the stairs of the hospital to the second floor where the main drama would unfold.

Pierce asked Brandt, "How would you describe your reception inside the hospital?"

"Well, it was rather cool. We had just fired a few hundred rounds at the place, and if my guess is correct about the sniper not even being in or on the building, I can certainly see why they were less than enthusiastic to see us."

"Was anyone openly hostile?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that. The men of the platoon were not very friendly visitors, either. I don't entirely blame them, though. It was this solitary sniper who caused what one might characterize as a misunderstanding, a feeling of distrust and hostility. It was not the happy arrival that the platoon had been expecting. "

Pierce looked pointedly at his watch.

Colonel Sproule did likewise, and Tyson thought they looked like they were doing a pre-attack watch synchronization. Colonel Sproule said, "Colonel Pierce, if you have no objections, I'd like to adjourn this court until eighteen hundred hours."

"I have no objections to a night session, your honor."

Sproule looked at Corva. "Does the defense have any objections to a night session?"

"No, your honor."

"Then the court is adjourned until eighteen hundred hours.

Tyson and Corva again went to the BOQ. Some of Brandt's morning testimony had been transcribed and was waiting for Corva, who took it from an MP at the door.

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Corva and Tyson entered the apartment, and Corva took a bottle of premixed martinis from the bar refrigerator. He sat at the dining room table and began looking through the transcripts.

Tyson had a martini and a cigarette. He said, "Where's dinner?"

"I'm not hungry," said Corva.

"What if I am?"

"Eat your olive."

"There is no olive."

Corva shrugged as he read and drank.

Tyson said, "How is the prosecution doing?"

"Not bad."

"How is the defense doing?"

"Too early to say."

Tyson paced around the living room. "You're not objecting to some of Pierce's leading questions."

"Why should I object to them? They're interesting. Look, Brandt is Pierce's witness. A prosecutor leading his own witness is just a shortcut to getting to what Brandt is going to say anyway. Let them dance."

Tyson shrugged.

Corva said, "I'm going to ask you about some of these statements that Brandt made, and you'll give me short and succinct answers that I can use on the cross-examination, which will probably be tomorrow."

"Okay."

Corva said, "I hope our witnesses are as articulate and orderly in their answers."

"I hope you are as articulate and orderly in your questions. "

Corva looked at Tyson. "I wish all our witnesses weren't going to tell about a room-to-room battle in the same location and at the same time as Brandt and Farley told about a wanton massacre. It might confuse the jury."