YMMV / JAGS 03 E 05 King Of The Fleas

• Tear Jerker: Willy Minkies' aka Roscoe Martin's] back story. He deserted his platoon just before they raided a village and got themselves ambushed and slaughtered, making him the Sole Survivor, with no one knowing of his desertion. He got captured by the VC, got taken to Dong Ha, where he is identified via guilty body language as a potential collaborator. He tried to negotiate better terms for the prisoners, only to be paid lip service by a camp commander who was All Take No Give, was force marched for 24 hours straight, endured torture, starvation, sleep deprivation and exposure to the elements. Finally, the camp commander threatened to kill a third of all prisoners and shot a lance corporal to demonstrate his seriousness unless a Minkies revealed the identities of Wild Weasel pilots to the Russians, then watched as the camp commander executed everyone else and let Minkies go. Minkies became a heroin addict and lost the use of his legs.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Minkies did desert his platoon and his guilt over that allowed him to be broken easily and turned into a collaborator. Had he led his platoon instead, they could have survived and accomplished their mission, or he could have died alongside them with honor. Either way, that camp wouldn't have had a willing patsy as a collaborator and could have hidden their Wild Weasel pilots probably long enough for Chegwiden and his SEAL team to rescue them. As it happened, the raiders only found an abandoned camp - because all prisoners had been executed earlier.