Editing Fragging (section)

==Motivation==
Soldiers have killed colleagues since the beginning of armed conflict, with many documented instances throughout history. However, the practice of fragging seems to have been relatively uncommon in the U.S. military until the Vietnam War. The prevalence of fragging was partially based on the ready availability of explosive weapons such as fragmentation hand grenades. Grenades were untraceable to an owner and left no ballistic evidence. [[M18 Claymore mine]]s and other explosives were also occasionally used in fragging, as were firearms, although the term, as defined by the military during the Vietnam War, applied only to the use of explosives to kill fellow soldiers.<ref name="Lepre">{{cite book|last=Lepre|first=George|title=Fragging: Why U.S. Soldiers Assaulted their Officers in Vietnam|date=2011|publisher=Texas Tech University Press|location=Lubbock}}</ref>{{RP|1,19}}<ref name=Brush>{{cite web|last1=Brush|first1=Peter|title=The Hard Truth About Fragging|url=http://www.historynet.com/the-hard-truth-about-fragging.htm|website=Historynet|access-date=May 25, 2014|date=2010}}</ref> Most fragging incidents were in the [[United States Army|Army]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]]. Fragging was rare among [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] personnel, who had less access to grenades and weapons than did soldiers and Marines.<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|30-31}}

The first known incidents of fragging in South Vietnam took place in 1966, but events in 1968 appear to have catalyzed an increase in fragging. After the [[Tet Offensive]] in January and February 1968, the Vietnam War became increasingly unpopular in the United States and among American soldiers in Vietnam, many of them conscripts. Secondly, racial tensions between white and black soldiers and marines increased after the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] in April 1968.<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|19-21}} With troops reluctant to risk their lives in what was perceived as a lost war, fragging was seen by some enlisted men "as the most effective way to discourage their superiors from showing enthusiasm for combat".<ref name="Brush" />

[[File:Vietnam War protest in Washington DC April 1971.jpg|thumb|[[G.I. movement]] veterans protesting the Vietnam War.]]
Morale plummeted among soldiers and marines. In 1971, a USMC colonel declared in the ''[[Armed Forces Journal]]'' that "The morale, discipline, and battle worthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are, with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at any time in this century and possibly in the history of the United States."<ref>Heinl, Jr., Col. Robert D. (1971), "The Collapse of the Armed Forces", ''Armed Forces Journal'', June 7, 1971</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/people/robert-debs-heinl-jr|title=Robert Debs Heinl, Jr.|work=[[United States Naval Institute]]|access-date=August 11, 2022}}</ref>

The U.S. military reflected social problems and issues in the U.S. such as racism, drug abuse, and resentment toward authoritarian leaders. As the U.S. began to withdraw its military forces from Vietnam, some American enlisted men and young officers lost their sense of purpose for being in Vietnam, and the hierarchical relationship between enlisted men and their officers deteriorated. The resentment directed from enlisted men toward older officers was exacerbated by generational gaps, as well as different perceptions of how the military should conduct itself. Enforcement of military regulations, especially if done overzealously, led to complaints and sometimes threats of physical violence directed toward officers.<ref name="Lepre" />

A number of factors may have influenced the incidence of fragging. The demand for manpower for the war in Vietnam caused the armed forces to lower their standards for inducting both officers and enlisted men. The rapid rotation of personnel, especially of officers who served (on average) less than six months in command roles, decreased the stability and cohesion of military units. Most important of all, perhaps, was the loss of purpose in fighting the war, as it became apparent to all that the United States was withdrawing from the war without having achieved any sort of victory. Morale and discipline deteriorated.<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|12-18}}

Most fragging was perpetrated by enlisted men against officers. Enlisted men, in the words of one company commander, "feared they would get stuck with a lieutenant or platoon sergeant who would want to carry out all kinds of crazy [[John Wayne]] tactics, who would use their lives in an effort to win the war single-handedly, win the big medal, and get his picture in the hometown paper".<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|84-85}} Harassment of subordinates by a superior was another frequent motive. The stereotypical fragging incident was of "an aggressive career officer being assaulted by disillusioned subordinates". Several fragging incidents resulted from alleged racism between black and white soldiers. Attempts by officers to control drug use caused others. Most known fragging incidents were carried out by soldiers in support units rather than soldiers in combat units.<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|61-122}}

Soldiers sometimes used non-lethal smoke and tear-gas grenades to warn superiors that they were in more serious danger if they did not change their behavior. A few instances occurred—and many more were rumored—in which enlisted men pooled their money for "bounties" on particular officers or non-commissioned officers to reward soldiers for fragging them.<ref name="Lepre" />{{RP|25,37-42}}