Little Man Big Man

Chapter 14: Little Man, Big Man 091825

Now, while licking my wounds, not from combat, but from dealing so incompetently with everyday life, The Big Red One began Operation Billings on June 12, 1967. On the 13th, while we stayed behind, pulling base security in those same scorpion-infested bunkers at Lai Khe, the Rangers' commander retook the lead. His 1/16th Infantry Battalion took a fifteen-minute chopper ride to make an air assault into a clearing northeast of our position at Lai Khe, and just a little ways due north of Phuoc Vinh in War Zone D. There was virgin Jungle surrounding the entire clearing. The clearing itself was five hundred meters in length and about three hundred meters wide. It was designated LZ (Landing Zone) Rufe. This operation would be this commander's last trial by fire. Counting his painful surgeries and recovery time, from that disabling elbow wound, the 1-16 commander had spent almost twice as long in mind-rending situations as the average American officer serving in Vietnam.

As brave and determined as this commander was, he was also a misguided leader of men. Leaders display many signs of being misguided. I like to label the totality of this commander's symptoms simply as little man syndrome. In Vietnam, there were a handful of my superiors under six feet tall, who were not suffering from little man syndrome. Lt. Colonel Cavazos was not six feet tall, but he was certainly not a little man. General DePuy was less than six feet, but he was a big man. The tall, handsome General Hay, though lacking the qualities that it takes in my book to become a great leader, was certainly no little man. On the other hand, the tall Westmoreland was over six feet, but he was a little man. The commander of the 1-16 was also a little man.......