In the late 60's I was talking to a Sergeant who just returned from Vietnam and he told me about enlisted men rolling grenades under their officer's cots. I was shocked beyond belief. I was upset for several days.
This Sergeant went on to tell me he was on a patrol with a commanding officer who insisted they follow him into what they, as experienced soldiers, knew was an ambush. The officer refused to budge and finally one of the men shot him dead. I asked the Sergeant what he did and he said he had no choice but to arrest the offender who had probably saved lives. He was eerily calm relating these stories. Looking back I realize I was talking with a victim of PTSD.
My study of history has revealed killing officers is nothing new it just reached new heights in Vietnam. There are several hundred documented cases in Vietnam and over 1000 mysterious officer deaths.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging
"The characteristics of the Vietnam War resulted in high stress for military officers and NCOs, and their troops. At the same time, relations within the military reflected social problems and issues in the US such as racial tension, drug use, and resentment toward authoritative leaders within the ranks.
"As the program of training Vietnamese for combat roles known as Vietnamization began, young American enlisted men lost a sense of purpose in fighting the war, and the relationship between enlisted men and their officers deteriorated. The resentment directed from enlisted men toward officers was exacerbated by their generational gaps, as well as different perceptions of how the military should be conducted.
"Enforcement of military regulations, especially if done overzealously, led to troops' complaining and sometimes threats of physical violence directed toward officers. Most incidents of fragging during the Vietnam War spawned from incompetent officers or personal philosophies on the war.
"Fragging most often involved the murder of a commanding officer or a senior non-commissioned officer perceived as unpopular, harsh, inept or overzealous.
"As the Vietnam War became more unpopular in the United States, soldiers became less willing to go into harm's way. They expected their leaders to have a similar sense of self-preservation, even if these motives were obstructive to the goals of the overall war effort. If a C.O. was incompetent, fragging the officer was considered a means of self-defense for the men serving under him. Fragging might also occur if a commander freely took on dangerous or suicidal missions, especially if he was deemed to be seeking personal glory.
"Lower enlisted-rank soldiers used the threat of fragging to influence officers. Sometimes a warning would be given to the target by placing a grenade pin on his bed. Fragging would take place if his actions continued as before.
"The use of fragging served to warn junior officers to avoid angering their enlisted men through recklessness, cowardice, or lack of leadership. George Cantero, who served as a medic in Vietnam during the early 1970s, later explained that incompetent officers who gave dangerous orders and refused to listen to reason or threats were fragged because that was the only way for the men to gain a new and presumably safer commanding officer.
"Underground GI newspapers sometimes listed bounties offered by units for the fragging of unpopular commanding officers. A potential catalyst for fragging incidents has been an unwillingness to tackle the issue head-on. By simply changing commanding officers after a fragging incident without evaluating the core issues presented, junior officers become even more incentivized to eliminate their commanding officers because there were no true repercussions."