I was a L/Cpl in 2nd Platoon, Delta Company, 1/9 in Cam Ne on the day of the infamous story/video/photos. I know all the Marines in the vid by Safer and I was around him throughout the day. I was shot very near Cam Ne 5-weeks after the Aug 5 event. Most of the stories I've found since leaving the USMC in 1967 are highly inaccurate and leave out much of what occurred in and around Cam Ne [a 6-hamlet village with rice paddies between them and dikes to traverse] a month prior to Aug 5 and several months after. The Marines did not enter all the hamlets on Aug 5 and the number of burned buildings/grass lodgings was about 30 by my count, and not what is typically reported to be 150. The village had fighting tunnels, booby traps, hedge rows with sniper positions. The village inhabitants did NOT want the Viet Cong in their village and told the ARVN such. The Viet Cong shot at all Marine patrols in the area. This village was a large Viet Cong stronghold just a few miles away from the Danang airport, et cetera. Find the interview with Lt. Ray Snyder [2nd Platoon, D1/9] on internet. He gives a lot of information from what he saw. Safer's report was VERY "unrepresentative" of the entire situation. He "highlighted" the burnings, et cetera without putting them in context. The Marines got rid of the Viet Cong in Cam Ne, very significantly helped rebuild all the buildings that were destroyed within one-month, gave the residents relatively large sums of money for whatever they want and the residents were thankful for for restoring peace and safety to their home area. Enough for now.
