Land mines are indiscriminate killers. They kill not only during the conflict, but decades after the last shot was fired. The technology has improved; a modern mine can be programmed to blow itself up after a few weeks or months, reducing the postwar threat to civilians. But anti-personnel mines are still not “smart.” They can’t tell a good guy from a bad guy, a soldier from a civilian, an adult from a child. And some fail to blow themselves up. When millions of mines are scattered across a battlefield by air and artillery, even a tiny “dud rate” will leave a substantial number lying in wait for innocent victims.
Of all the instruments of terror used on the battlefield, mines are the most inhumane. The wartime casualties are young men whose lives are either snuffed out or ruined forever by crippling injuries. Even soldiers who escape from a minefield unscathed are haunted by the experience. Many cases of posttraumatic stress disorder, a serious psychological malady, were caused by the preying fear of mines and booby traps. Years later, a walk across an open field brings back the old dread: What’s under those leaves? Do I dare put my foot on that freshly turned earth? Walk through a minefield, and you’ll never be young again.
During the Korean War, tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides were felled by land mines. Many of them were killed by their own mines, recklessly thrown down in haste, their location unrecorded. In 1952, as a 21-year-old lieutenant, I was ordered to clear a path through an unmapped minefield-one of our own. I argued with my colonel about the advisability of doing such work on frozen, snow-covered ground. Lieutenants seldom win disputes with colonels, so the mine-clearing detail proceeded as ordered until a fine black sergeant named Simmons tripped the wire on a “Bouncing Betty” mine. It popped up from the ground and blew off the top of his head, covering me with his blood and brains. Moments later, another noncom went nuts and stomped out into the minefield, screaming: “I’ll find the f—— mines, I’ll find the f—— mines!” He was tackled, restrained and led away.
In Vietnam, the U.S. Armed Forces also used land mines irresponsibly, dropping millions of them at random by air. The enemy quickly learned how to disarm these weapons and recycle them for use against us. The infantry battalion I commanded in the Ninth Division took more than 1,800 casualties in a year and a half, most of them caused by recycled U.S. ordnance. Mines cannot secure a flank or defend a position by themselves. For a minefield to be even marginally effective, it must be protected by friendly troops, to knock off the bad guys who want to clear a path or use the mines against you.
Mines never stopped any unit of mine from taking its objective–or the enemy from getting inside my wire. Anyone who has ever been in battle, especially in Korea or Vietnam, has seen enemy sappers crawl through mines and barbed wire and get into their positions. I once faced a Chinese “human wave” attack in Korea. My company was dug in on high ground, with plenty of weapons, ammo and artillery support. Out in front of our position we laid a carpet of mines and flares. The enemy attacked in regimental strength, outnumbering us 9 to 1. They walked through our minefield–and our gunfire–without missing a beat. They cut my company in half and within an hour were two miles to the south, in our rear. The only way out was to move north, so we trudged through our own somewhat depleted mine field to escape, losing two men in the process.
Most serving generals, especially the desk jockeys, are in favor of mines. The real war-fighters usually want to get rid of them. Whatever defensive punch is lost would be more than offset by the new firearms and missiles that give today’s infantry platoon more killing power than a Korea-vintage battalion. “Mines are not mission-essential,” says one general, “but they are budget-essential.” In 1996, the U.S. Army budgeted $89 million for land-mine warfare. Now the army is fighting to protect every nickel.
Still, some retired generals want to ban mines, and I agree with them. Governments can declare land mines illegal, just as chemical weapons were prohibited. Sure, thugs like Saddam Hussein or Ratko Mladic will continue to use them. But users (along with manufacturers and dealers) can be hunted down and punished by an international court. If that happens just a few times, anti-personnel mines will go the way of mustard gas. I’ll drink to that, and so will most veterans of foreign wars.
