# When was the last prosecution for Vietnam-era "fraging"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-prosecution-for-vietnam-era-fraging/716133>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 27, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-prosecution-for-vietnam-era-fraging/716133 "2015-03-27T17:49:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-prosecution-for-vietnam-era-fraging/716133/1 "2015-03-27T17:49:04Z")

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[This article](http://www.redbullrising.com/2014/04/vietnam-to-today-doonesbury-tells.html) about Doonesbury came up in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=752678) thread. It shows a Doonesbury strip where a character jokingly reminisces about [“fragging”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging) bad officers in Vietnam, many years later. The scene takes place during the Iraq War, where the, obviously much older, character is in the National Guard.

The thought occurred to me was anyone ever prosecuted in later years for “fragging” in Vietnam. When was the last prosecution for such a crime (in Vietnam that is, I know similar things have happened in later wars). How does military law work in such cases? If you are long retired from the military can you still face a military court?

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-prosecution-for-vietnam-era-fraging/716133/2 "2015-03-27T17:59:10Z")

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Just thought I’d mention - that cartoon stuck in head because my boss at the time of the first Iraq war was a draft dodger from Vietnam; he mentioned that many of his classmates who went into ROTC became lieutenants and never came back from Vietnam. I don’t know how common fragging was, but obviously the concept got a lot of traction in popular culture. (For example, Neidermeyer the obnoxious ROTC student in _Animal House_ supposedly suffered this fate.)

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-prosecution-for-vietnam-era-fraging/716133/3 "2015-03-27T18:17:25Z")

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It doesn’t answer your question, but Cecil’s article on fragging has some interesting info in it:

> **[Did soldiers really frag officers in Vietnam?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343974/did-soldiers-really-frag-officers-in-vietnam)**

Cecil notes that few cases went to trial, and that information about fragging incidents is surprisingly difficult to find.