Slow dance on the killing ground

Written by Bernie Weisz Vietnam Historian e mail address: BernWei1@aol.com Pembroke Pines, Florida USA December 14, 2008 Title of Review: "Slow Dance On The Killing Ground"....Fiction or Fact?" "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground," authored by Lenox Cramer (a pseudonym) is a story that the reader will continually ask himself: "did this really happen?" The stories contained within the 272 pages are so fantastic, one really questions the authenticity of these anecdotes. It is for good reason any reader with a critical eye starts out early noticing the implausibility of this book, as we shall soon see. Supposedly, Lenox Cramer grew up on the rough streets of Detroit, Michigan. It states in this book that as a teenager Cramer fought with a member of a motorcycle gang that bothered him and demanded that he pay for protection. Cramer shot the gang member in the leg, was arrested and promptly sent to a juvenile detention center. As Cramer related: "Dad made a deal with the judge. In return for a clean slate, I would enlist in the Army for three years." Serving for three years with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and then joining the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol element of the 173rd, he finished out his tour and returned to the U.S. shortly after the Tet Offensive of January, 1968.

Why did Cramer decide to go back and become a Green Beret? Cramer wrote upon returning from Vietnam: "Outside the perimeter fence of the airbase, a huge crowd carried signs on sticks. Most were dressed in multicolored clothes. Their signs read "peace", "love" and something about baby killers. As our buses pulled out of the front gate of the base, the people in the colorful clothes went crazy. Raw eggs splattered the bus. Since it was late summer and hot, most of the soldiers had opened their windows. Everything that was being thrown by the crowd came into the bus, hitting the guys that were fresh out of the killing grounds". The Green Beret sitting next to me said that these people were hippie war protesters. A couple of them ran up to the bus and threw bags at us. The bags were filled with human feces." How tragic it was to treat returning soldiers that had just put their lives on the line in the defense of democracy and this country. Once back in the real world of mundane civilian life, Cramer realized that he enjoyed war, killing, and the rush that went with it.

Choosing to reenlist, Cramer wrote: "I knew there was nothing for me in the U.S. at that time. The only real ties I had to anyone or anything was in the Special Forces. I was one of their professionals now, like it or not. And the bulk of professional soldiers were where the action was, in 'Nam. I was a highly trained killer. I belonged in 'Nam, with men like myself who would accept me for who and what I was right then. When I returned to Ft. Bragg, I volunteered for the 5th Special Forces Group, Vietnam". Cramer claims he was a part of covert operations into countries we were not supposed to be in (Laos and Cambodia), assassinations of undesirables, i.e., both American and Vietnamese, both Southern and Northern. Cramer also wrote that he had involvement with the Central Intelligence Program in the war effort. Cramer initially qualifies this book as fiction. He explains: "This is a work of fiction. It is based on my experiences while serving in Southeast Asia. The names, dates, times and places have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty alike, as well as to protect me from violating any National Security Act.

The author continues his qualification: To the best of my knowledge, all of the missions of the Studies and Observations Group (SOG) are still classified. Everything has been kept as close to fact as possible, even the gist of conversations. Special Forces operatives were the finest the Army had to offer during the S.E. Asian conflict They paid for their courage, training, dedication, skill and motivation with blood, wounds, death and ultimately the loss of the cause for which they had so valiantly fought. Still, they fought it well. For us, the warriors, it was our "raison d'etre", or as the Japanese warrior-mystics put it, "The mission is everything." We danced the slow dance on the killing grounds, to the tune called by others, obedient to the end." Cramer made some very important observations about the camaraderie of "SOG". that unparalleled any other military group. Cramer explained: "There was a bond, a camaraderie among those men that is nearly unparallel elsewhere. The green hat (the green beret) became our bond, our symbol. We knew we could depend on each other, no matter what. And everyone else was suspect. The CIA were treacherous, the grunts or infantry soldiers were sloppy, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was undependable, and the North Vietnam Army (NVA) the enemy. All of them could get you killed. Green Hats, on the other hand, were friends."

Other books echo this. One in particular, "Across The Fence-The Secret War In Vietnam" by John S. Meyer basically echo's similar sentiments. Stryker wrote: "You can't tell your girlfriend, your mother, no one. If anyone asked about our assignments, we were to simply say that we were with the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam. The agreement was binding for 20 years. If anyone violated this agreement, that individual could face federal prosecution, resulting in stiff fines and incarceration, and ruin any future government or security employment opportunities. We were prohibited from writing anything about the operation, forbidden from keeping diaries, taking photos, making drawings or tape recording notes of any sort. No identification papers (on SOG members), no dog tags, no diaries. Everyone would wear sterile fatigues, with no company insignia, no nametags, no unit designators or combat infantry badges. Why? Because Laos and Cambodia were neutral, the U.S. Government could publicly proclaim that the U.S. respected that "neutrality". Thus, if we were killed in Laos, Cambodia or North Vietnam, the U.S. Government would deny having anything to do with us. The U.S. Government would explain that no Americans were stationed in Laos or Cambodia, which was technically accurate. The U.S. Government had "plausible deniability" if we were captured or killed."

Stryker's book is a historical memoir. Is Cramer's? The author has several stories of being deep in enemy territory grabbing important human targets with fellow SOG members. These stories are very similar to ones found in John L. Plaster's book "SOG". Plaster asserts: 'The SOG mission that most demanded ingenuity and audacity was snatching enemy prisoners. By hook and crook, by trickery and device, by technology and technique, SOG men aspired to perfect their kidnapping craft, developing more skill in this artful science than at any time in previous military history. Rewards and accolades were heaped upon successful snatchers, and with good reason: there is no intelligence source so fruitful as a freshly snatched prisoner. Taking a prisoner meant a free R & R to Taiwan aboard a SOG Blackbird on a maintanence rotation, a $100 cash bonus for each American and a new Seiko wristwatch and cash to each Nung or Montegnanrd. A snatch meant initiating contact in dangerous areas, against forces that usually outnumbered your team. And when you grabbed someone, the prisoner slowed your pace while other NVA chased all the harder, knowing you had one of their own."

Finally, Cramer writes about laying secret motion sensors in the ground that detected enemy movement deep in hostile territory. This was an innovation of the Vietnam War, a technology that is now commonplace. Cramer's description of his view of the Vietnam War sounds credible and realistic. Cramer explained: "Nam was a rock 'n' roll kind of war. It seemed incongruous to me that professional killers like us were rocking to the same music as the hippies, who obviously hated us. But a lot of the younger green hats were. And when I say I was "into" rock, I mean to the point that I could name every song on any given album, knew the words to most of them by heart and knew the name of every band member for every band I liked and their history. All of us had our little vices, but they were never talked about as long as they didn't interfere with our performance on a mission. I drank, smoked weed on occasion and ate benzedrine in the field when I needed it. It was issued to us. Some of the others did the same and some didn't. As long as I didn't get drunk on a mission, light a joint in the field or become addicted to anything other than the combat itself, no one cared what I did to survive between ops. It was an unwritten rule of the war".

The violence in this book is extremely brutal and graphic, and it is questionable as to whether this was intentionally played up to insure credibility. Why do I say this? It is a fact that time distorts all stories. The Vietnam War ended in January of 1973 for America. That is almost forty years ago, enough time for someone to take this conflict and sadly twist the truth of it for their own financial gain, and this seems to be the case in this instance. Apparently, there were four books in all released by Lenox Kramer. The first was in February of 1991, and was entitled "War With Empty Hands:Self Defense Against Aggression." This was to be the first part in a succession of books known as the "Shadow Warrior Series," issued by Alpha Publications. "Slow Dance on The Killing Floor" was authored by Kramer in July of 1991 and month later, "War With Empty Hands:Self-Defense Against Aggression" Supplement 1 hit the book stores.
What proved to be the last Cramer release came out in October of 1991, entitled "War With Empty Hands:Field Craft" seeing distribution.

Unfortunately for Lenox, Colonel Abraham, president for the "Special Operations Association" saw a copy. Knowing that author B.G. Burkett was working on a book that would expose liars, fabricators and phoney heroes trying to flood the major publishing houses with false tales of heroism in Vietnam, he told the author about "Slow Dance on the Killing Floor." Abraham did not want to see an individual misrepresent a former Vietnam Veteran with a fraudulent book resulting in a best selling biography. Burkett took one look at "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground" and without even reading it realized this book was a sham. In a desperate attempt to legitimatize the fact that the author was a bona fide war hero, Cramer inserted at the beginning of the book a copy of his "DD-214." This is an official separation document of the United States Military, and it it represents the complete, verified record of a service member's time in the military, awards and medals, and other pertinent service information, such as promotions, combat service or overseas service. The one in the book indicated that Cramer had worked with the Special Forces, with his name whited out. It also alleged that the bearer of this DD-214 had won the "Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, 2 Bronze Medal Stars for Valor, 5 Purple Hearts and the Combat Infantry Badge."

Being an expert at examining these forms, Burkett saw all the typing errors and knew this was a fake. Working with Abraham, Burkett sought out Cramer in an attempt to find out his true name. The director of Alpha Publications, John Straub, sent a letter to Abraham informing him the author's real name was "Michael Eric Cramer," along with a copy of his real DD-214. Realizing he was busted, Cramer, along with admitting he was incarcerated in Kentcky State Prison, sent a letter to Abraham, insisting that his book was based on: "Actual experience and in part on stories related to him by participants. I was unsure of what might still be classified, so to be safe in that regard, and again for the sake of "dramatization," I altered the who, what, when, and where significance." He added that because he was in jail it was necessary to use a "nom de guerre." Burkett started to do his own homework. Checking with the authorities at Kentucky State Prison, he found out that Cramer had lied to Abraham about his name so that he couldn't check his military records and that his real one was in fact "Lenox Eric Cramer," Now everything this author said was in doubt. Burkett shuddered when he found out two things. First, Kramer was incarcerated for the brutal and sadistic murder of a hitchhiker. Second, Kramer had been the star pupil of a prison run creative writing class, and finally, Cramer's claim of being an ex Green Beret was an abject falsification,

The only service Cramer saw was as a clerk typist probably typing up fake orders, promotions and requisitions. He had been thrown out of the Army by court martial, with AWOL and narcotics violations. Upon learning this, Staub dumped Cramer's book, selling it to Avon Books. This publisher, indifferent to whether this book was true or hogwash, saw only big sales receipts and ignored the reality of the situation, that "Slow Dance on the Killing Floor" was a fraud. The author was nothing less than an imprisoned charlatan writing farcical tales about Vietnam. As a side note, Cramer was released from Kentucky State Prison and in no time at all trouble found him. Burkett reported that Cramer had been convicted of murdering two people on a contract hit, and would never again see daylight. In the end, it is apparent that books like this really denigrate the service, patriotism and gallantry of some of the best warriors America has to offer, those in the Green Berets and Studies and Operations Group. It is a sad fact that these authors have no respect for those special people that go above and beyond the call of this country. Once exposed, books of this sort need to be exempt from sale and authors permanently banned.