In reply to:

This is unimaginable to me, though I know that there were at least rumors of similar things in Vietnam.

Jackie, in Viet Nam they coined a term for killing an officer who was either incompetent or otherwise undesirable, to frag a lieutenant. I am pretty sure that it comes from fragmentation grenade. While the officer was sitting in the latrine someone would toss a hand grenade in and the helpless man would be blown up. Not nice.