Hans.

This is coolbert:

Here are some excerpts from the book "Devil's Guard", quoting the purported commander of the French Foreign Legion battalion in Indo-China comprised of German nationals. The commander of course is a man called Hans Wagemueller.

To quote Hans: [talking about the American experience in Vietnam]

"But our own long and unbroken record of victories against the same enemy in the same land was still fresh in my memory, and the unnecessary death of every American soldier, hurt me deeply. I could not think of the Vietnam war in any way except that it was my own war. Those GI's scouted the same jungle trails where we had trekked for many years. Many of them had to die where we had survived. Somehow it was an inner compulsion to regard them as comrades-at-arms. And you know what? I am not surprised that young Americans are tearing up their draft cards and refusing to go to Vietnam. To take young college boys out of their supercivilized surroundings and cast them into the primitive jungles of Asia is nothing but murder. Sheer murder. Only experts highly skilled and experienced anti-guerilla fighters, can survive in the jungles of Asia. It takes a year of constant fighting before a recruit turns into an expert."

And also:

"Superior weapons mean little in the jungle and superiority in numbers could also be an unimportant factor. A thousand tough experts may cause even more damage to the enemy, spread more terror, destroy more of their ranks than a division of green recruits can. My headhunters had often destroyed Viet Minh detachments three times their number accomplishing more with the bayonet than other units of the Legion accomplished with artillery."

What is Hans saying here? Pick quality over quantity and lead according to a good plan, and you can't go wrong. A lot of truth in that!

coolbert.