European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Evaluation Section of the 7th army no Academy at bad Tolz West Germany he is very intense about getting our Young soldiers ready for what constantly mutters through the sweat of this old Soldier is combat that s where the rubber meets the Road. Do they really understand the fierceness and brutality of it the noise and smoke and dying do they understand that out there you Don t worry about a Little Snow on the ground you Don t worry that it s too hot in the desert or there s Sand in the food. In War there s 101 worse things going on at once. Can he handle the Shock of All that physically and psychologically yeah i wish training was s experience the Shock of War can hardly be exaggerated. Even the Shock of coming Home from War. When he came Home right off the plane he got the treatment. Baby killer a voice thrilled at him. Why did t you just stay Over there and die the thing was i came Home proud. I was really proud walking through Tacoma International Airport. And then this woman walks up and spits on me. " Why Are people talking to us like this i wondered. I did t get a briefing to expect anything like this. I d made it through. I d Given my Best. One Day i m Over there and the next Here i am at Home swimming through the hostility being psychological bombed. People Don t even want to hear about it. They say they know it already. They watch Walter Cronkite on to. Well of people the Man they were spitting on is the same one who according to one of his citations advanced through a Hail of enemy fire to Rescue wounded soldiers then fought off the enemy led the wounded out to safety went Back through the murderous fire carrying ammunition to help others Back and Forth until he was Cut Clown himself. On the Battlefield he received the Silver Star for that one and he would do such things Over and Over. And then Back Home he heard the words that still ring in his ears baby killer Why did t you just stay Over there and die Many candidates for Vietnam stress syndrome went through less but you can t get Rainville Down. Well maybe a Little he admits. When i m alone sometimes things come creeping Back. Like remembering a Friend who bought the he says they always bought the we never said the word die. Soldiers did t die. We got greased smoked zapped dinged waxed wasted. But we never died. And we were usually too Busy working to dwell on the Man who has served his country in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, and doubtless will into the 90s, is full of ideas about turning negative Energy into positive about something called the spirit of the Bayonet fighter which sounds pretty ferocious. What that Means is prevailing Over All Odds. Of never saying quit. Of hanging together no matter what. It s the sense of comradeship. It s the Soldier s knowing the Leader is going to take care of him not pass the Buck to somebody else. It s the Leader knowing that when the smoking and burning starts his soldiers Are going to be there for which brings Rainville to something else he feels intensely about what he Calls the army s unfortunate tendency to replace leaders with leaders Are people whose very presence Light up the troops make them want to fight managers he says Are too often career oriented High gloss tin soldiers who can t fight and can t Lead paper soldiers who tear easily in combat who Don t have the allegiance of their troops and when they look behind them there s nobody a real Leader is somebody you have Faith and Trust and Confidence in who you re willing to die trying for he says. A manager is Apt to sit Back stay quiet in his Don to bother me Glass Cage with the sticker on it break in Case of War " by that time he says it s just a bit too late. In Vietnam he had a classic Down and dirty lesson in leadership hell never forget. First it. Rainville who wanted to experience everything soldiering had to offer was on the verge of experiencing getting blown up because some of his fellow officers did t know what to do when the Glass broke. It s the 19th of june 1970. We re 21 Miles inside the Parrot s beak of Cambodia Delta co 2nd in 12th cav/1staircavdiv." Rainville is leading a platoon in a company that is Down to 60 men. They Are at the Bottom of a great Hill covered with double and triple canopy Jungle. Frenchy my Point Man comes Back from recon and sits Down and looks at me. I can see it in his face. Frenchy was uncanny at sniffing out the enemy. He could read tracks on ice. And what we be got Are Wall to Wall to Chi Minh Sandal tracks which Means there s a lot of folks up there waiting for now his battalion commander aiming to kick off the operation by dropping canisters of tear Gas on the suspected enemy positions platters overhead in his helicopter and from 1,500 feet kicks out the Gas. They Tumble Down real pretty. Right on top of us. So we Start the operation getting gassed by our own commander. And none of us with Gas masks. About half the company is so angry they open up on him. The battalion commander radios Down that he s taking fire from the enemy. I radio up to the battalion commander that he d probably better Fly away from there. Anyway All this Racket has got to Alert the to Chi Minh Guys that we re on the Way red eyed tempers running full blood charge travelling Ruck heavy with More than 100 pounds each of ammo and water and weapons and gear Delta starts up a Long Hill. It s Early morning a Mist fuming off the Valley floor and it s quiet very quiet. They re listening for any sound. Listening to the Mist creep the Jungle whisper. On the left and right of them Are sheer drop offs and they re staggering up with their huge loads along a very narrow spine of this Hill that is nearly a Mountain. Just As we get near the Crest everything goes off. Enemy machine guns Rifle fire Claymores. Grenades Are coming at us rugs rocket propelled grenades Are flying Down through the he tries to radio the company commander at the Bottom of the Hill but can t reach him because there s a lieutenant ahead of him commanding the Lead platoon who has the radio net tied up. Rainville gets his platoon charging up the Hill toward the Lead platoon. About then i get it in the legs with b 40 rocket shrapnel. But there s so Nuch noise so much going on the adrenaline s Rushing like a Waterfall and i Don t feel the Hurt much and keep on now they make it up there with the Lead platoon. There s grenades coming and bullets ricocheting off the sides of Trees and the platoon Leader is just sitting there looking Back Down the Hill. He s got this huge Battle dressing the biggest the army makes on the Side of his face. I gently pull the dressing Back and god As my witness All he has is this Little scratch a Nick you d would t pay any attention to shaving. But Here he is on the radio tying up the net letting his troops go to hell mumbling about How i can t take it any More. My Mother i need to get Back to my Mother Rainville at that moment was in the very mood to dispatch him to her when the other lieutenant broke and ran All the Way Down to the Bottom of the Hill. By the time he got Down to 4th platoon there s this other lieutenant who jumps up and runs away with him and three More soldiers who panic and follow them. We did t find them until the next morning Long after the firefight that went on for nine hours was during that fight Rainville had More to worry about than Mother. Those 101 tilings. His company commander took a hit and was put out of action the Only other platoon Leader got hit and put out of action and there was that battalion commander fluttering around up in the air who never did seem to know what was going on whom Rainville finally had to ask to please get off the radio because we got a War to fight Down Rainville has been thrust into command of the leaderless company against the big hunkered in North vietnamese Force that has them in their sights. Now our wounded rate is increasing. We be got eight Down then 10, then 15, then 20, and then our four Man Forward observer team gets taken wounded again Rainville rallies his men Calls in 105 and 155mm artillery rounds helicopter gunships and f-4 phantom strikes Down on the Nova As Well As Merle vac choppers to take out his wounded. He s orchestrating it All like a bandleader first the percussion instruments then the woodwinds followed with crescendos of wild strings until his battered people on the ground gather themselves and attack the Nova bunkers. They not Only survive they prevail. The bravery and magnificence of those Guys my Guys to this Day overwhelms me. Talk about spirit. Out of the 60 men 55 had been wounded. They d get hit get bandaged up get hit get bandaged up and have so much blood on them they could hardly see and they d still come Back fighting. You d look to see if they could keep on going and they d just look Back and say no smoke sir " standing there in the smoking and the burning All lumped up with bandages looking like wild blood sucked Jungle wraiths staring at him with eyes glowing like red lights in a cemetery muttering no smoke Rainville even then called pops he was All of 30 had t done too terribly himself. And he had Learned something elemental in the cruellest school about what leadership is. These Days when the sergeant colonel talks about the difference Between the spirit of the Bayonet fighter and that of the cockroach at the Academy and tries to instill in everyone including our women cos the spirit that they can seize a Bayonet Between their Teeth and tackle rambo listen carefully Young soldiers. Pops is not just blowing smoke. Rainville 49, says soldiers need spirit of the Bayonet fighter the the sergeant colonel says infantry is what i know and what i Rainville is very intense about training soldiers for War. Rainville is one of the most decorated soldiers on Active duty. January 26, 1989 stripes Magazine
