In Vietnam, white superiors would break the news to their Black subordinates, but not before seizing their weapons to ensure none of the rage was turned back on them. Black soldiers were in shock. It seemed like the air had been sucked out of the jungle. They would mourn together, exhausted and reeling over the loss of a hero many of them had believed was capable of liberating them. They listened as white soldiers partied and joked in the distance. On some bases white boys paraded around, joking about the murder.
