In Chapter 14, LT McDonough was faced with a tough decision to make upon return from a patrol. He had learned that his PSG, Sergeant Hernandez, had been violating a female in the nearby town. LT McDonough knew SGT Hernandez was a good soldier, and a good leader, but he could not accept the fact that he had done what he did. Because of his irresponsible actions, SGT Hernandez was transferred out of LT McDonough’s platoon, upon his request.

As far as transferring SGT Hernandez out of his platoon, I believe LT McDonough made the right call. Even though it was going to decrease the personnel of his already dwindling platoon, by doing that, it set an example to the rest of his men that behavior like that was not going to be tolerated. The one action of his I did question a bit was when he interfered with the beating in the village. That could have potentially created bad tension between the local populous, and his platoon, something he did not need at the time, seeing how VC were already all over the place. An action like that could have given the locals reason to help the VC rather than the Americans, not an ideal situation at all.