
Eriksson in a bar talking to a Army Chaplin taking about the Incident of Hill 192.
Max Eriksson (1944-) was a U.S. Army Private First Class and later Sergeant of the 23rd Infantry Division who was reward the bronze star for his actions for Battle of Nui Hoac Ridge during the Tet Offensive. He is one of the five men who against the rape and murder of Hill 192. during the Vietnam War.
Biography[]
Maxwell Eriksson was born in San Fransico, California to a Lutheran family, his father was soldier that fought the second World War but died in a car accident. Before the war, Ericksson attend Mission High School where he met his childhood sweetheart Emily and the two them end up getting married and having a daughter Kimberly before being drafted in the United States Army in October of 1966.
Three weeks[]
After Boot Camp, Ericksson served the 23th Division, under the command 2nd Lieutenant Irving Reilly. During his first weeks in Vietnam, Lieutenant Reilly leads his platoon of American soldiers on a nighttime patrol. They are attacked by the Viet Cong after a panicked soldier exposes their position. While guarding the platoon's flank, Eriksson falls as the top of a VC tunnel gives way beneath him. Eriksson's squad leader, Sergeant Tony Meserve, pulls Eriksson out of the hole and eventually, the platoon retreats out of the jungle. The platoon takes a break outside a river village in the Central Highlands. While relaxing and joking around, one of Meserve's friends, Specialist 4 Benjamin "Brownie" Brown, is killed when the Viet Cong ambushes them. Brownie's death has a major impact on Meserve. The platoon is sent back to their base. Private First Class Antonio Diaz arrives as the replacement radio operator. Frustrated because his squad has been denied leave for an extended period, Meserve orders the squad to kidnap a Vietnamese girl. Eriksson strenuously objects, but Meserve, Corporal Thomas E. Clark and Pfc. Herbert Hatcher ignore him. Before the quintet disembarks, Eriksson voices his concerns to his closest friend, Rowan Gwaltney.
The incident[]
At nightfall, the squad enters a village and kidnaps a Vietnamese girl, Tran Thi Oanh, as the squad treks through the mountains, Dìaz begins to reconsider raping Than and begs Eriksson to back him up. The squad and then eventually take refuge in an abandoned hooch, where Eriksson is confronted and threatened by Meserve, Clark, and Hatcher. Dìaz suddenly gives in to the pressure, leaving Eriksson alone in opposing the act. Meserve forces Eriksson to stand guard outside while the other men sequentially rape Oanh. At daybreak, Eriksson is ordered to guard Than while the rest of the squad takes up a position near a railroad bridge overlooking a Viet Cong River supply depot. Through his acts of kindness, Eriksson manages to earn Oanh’s trust and prepares to go AWOL and return Oanh to her family. However, Meserve sends Clark to get Eriksson and then to go to the bridge before Eriksson can carry out his plan. Meserve has Dìaz order close air support for an assault on the depot and then orders Dìaz to kill Oanh with a knife. Before Dìaz can kill her, Eriksson fires his rifle into the air, exposing them to the nearby Viet Cong. Amidst the firefight, Oanh tries to escape. Eriksson tries to save her but Meserve stops him and knocks him down with the butt of his M60. Eriksson watches helplessly as the entire squad shoots Oanh numerous times until she falls off the bridge to her death.
The Aftermath[]
After the battle, Eriksson wakes up in a field hospital at the base. He eventually bumps into Rowan and tells him everything that happened. Rowan suggests that Eriksson see Reilly and company commander Captain Hill. Reilly and Hill both prefer to bury the matter but Hill, infuriated at Eriksson's determination to press the issue, resolves to get rid of Eriksson and orders him transferred to a tunnel rat unit. The other men in Meserve's squad will all be reassigned as well. After narrowly escaping an attempt to kill him in the latrine with a grenade that was made by Clark, he storms into a tent and smacks Clark in the face with a shovel, reminding Meserve that killing him is unnecessary because no one cares about what they did. Meserve shakily attempts a joke, and Eriksson leaves. Eriksson then meets an Army chaplain at a bar and describes what happened during the patrol. The chaplain in turn reports it, launching an investigation.
The Court Martial[]
The four men who participated in the rape and murder are court martialed in April 1967. Meserve was found guilty on the count of murder and receives 10 years hard labor and a dishonorable discharge, Clark receives life in prison, Hatcher receive 15 years of hard labor before acquitted and Diaz 8 years hard labor.
Moving On[]
Ericksson took over Marserve position and promoted to the rank of Sargeant, he took part some of the roughish battles during the war, such as the Tet offensive before being discharged in 1969. After returning back San Francisco he works as a construction worker but was still about the war. In 1973, Eriksson wakens from a nightmare to find himself on a J-Church transit line in San Francisco, just a few seats from a Vietnamese-American student who resembles Oanh. She disembarks at Dolores Park and forgets her scarf, prompting Eriksson to run after her to return it. As she thanks him and turns away, he calls after her in Vietnamese. She surmises that she reminds him of someone, and adds that he has had a bad dream. They go their separate ways, and Eriksson is somewhat comforted.