Should it Help?

Lt Shane Casey’s infantry platoon had been on patrolling operations for five days in Vietnam. The men were bone tired. One morning, they were to move about three miles south for a helicopter pick-up. That afternoon, they encountered a group of Vietnamese civilians, about 30 men and women with children. The interpreter told them the civilians were fleeing after a North Vietnamese battalion moved into their village and collected most inhabitants for supply transport duty. They were tired, had no food and needed medical help.

Lt Shane Casey’s infantry platoon had been on patrolling operations for five days in Vietnam. The men were bone tired. One morning, they were to move about three miles south for a helicopter pick-up. That afternoon, they encountered a group of Vietnamese civilians, about 30 men and women with children. The interpreter told them the civilians were fleeing after a North Vietnamese battalion moved into their village and collected most inhabitants for supply transport duty. They were tired, had no food and needed medical help. The platoon medic had only a basic supply of medical items. Helping them seemed the right thing to do, but the platoon was still very far from where they were supposed to go. What should Lt Casey have done?