Lt William Calley

I remember this vivdly although I was a young teen at the time.
I DO think that William Calley was a scapegoat for a horrific event, but how can soldiers not be brutalised in war, their training teaching them to view the enemy as un human

 

I remember a local show called Bowling For Dollars, (I know, it was boring). The host was asking bowlers their opinion of William Calley. That was highly unusual. He was removed shortly thereafter as host of that program.

 

Both.

 

There is an old saying,"for those who fought for it freedom has a flavor the protected will never know"I believe the same of war.War too,has a flavor about it that is known ONLY to those who have been to war. That is not to say of course that all have no say in the matter
I believe.he was a textbook case of a scapegoat.Talk to any vet especially a grunt (infantry man)they will tell you of the many scapegoats of war.No way as serious but a scapegoat nonetheless.Theres 100s of them from minor infractions to the Lts. case.He got caught and was made an example of "WE WONT STAND FOR THIS"by,I'll only say others.
Yes he did admit guilt but I suspect that was,at least in part, part of his plea deal yet any human would feel as he did after such a thing.Another old saying is",theres nothing more dangerous in battle than a 2nd Lt. with a map."Those young men had enormous responsibilites thrust upon them with pressures from every front ie body counts,kill ratios and on and on.In war,at least that one,the great words of our former president "the buck stops here", well it stopped somewhere else along the way before it got to the battle fields and rice patties of Vietnam.When all the post and books have been written it boils down to this.Lt. Calley did what he thought was right at that particular time and never ever forget,it wasn't the country that was fought for,not democracy,not even the flag-it was for each other.
Give an 18 or 19 year old a fully automatic weapon in that environment and well..........Think about it,only four years of school and a quick O.C S, separated the Lt. from those he commanded.One last thing.I'm sure Lt Calley and others would scratch their heads over why NOBODY EVER ASK WHAT GOOD I DID THEY JUST ASK HOW MANY PEOPLE I KILLED.By the way,ALL were heros.Maybe not to the country but in the eyes of each other they are and that's what counts.
God Bless

.

 

Just curious.

How many taking that "military ethics" class were former military? More specifically Vietnam veterans?

 

And "Teaching" their students to be as ignorant as they are.

 

I just watched a documentary on this a few nights ago.
IMHO he was more a scapegoat, but legally, a murderer.
If I remember correctly from that docu the intel they had was that My Lai, a.k.a., "Pinkville" because Quang Mai province was colored pink in a map, had active Vietcong and Vietcong sympathizers, and that the "friendlies" or "neutrals", the villagers, have been advised to move out, and therefore any civilian, armed or unarmed, still in the area is either a combatant, or a sympathizer, and the zone was a free fire zone.
In actuality, their target was more than a hundred miles West of My Lai.
IF so, then it was stupid intel, perhaps hastily gathered, unverified, but used and fed to troops.
The Army did not want to admit that civilians have been killed as a result of their own stupidity, so Lt. Calley and Capt. Medina were "it".
I think there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the investigation that was done.
I think Medina's and Calley's investigation was for public show and consumption, but, that, the Army did some discreet, back room inquiries on who blew the intel, or if not, maybe they should have.

 

War is hell (Probably unquenchable napalm).

I must admit that though I was in the military during the VC era and I saw no combat and I am thankful.

I would have done my duty no doubt and killed enemy combatants but I would also no doubt have been really messed up as were some of my buddies (well one anyway).

HankD

 

I regretted many times getting out too You are right about the VA. I started using them in 2010. Have IHD ,loss of hearing,PPD(vertigo)tinnitus and a scar all service related. VA mails all my meds straight to my door and a tidy little sum each month

 

Just noticed your mess ended with sick. Hope it's nothing to serious.

 

Maybe. Maybe not. Different people have different capacities to handle the stress of combat.

When I told a shrink I didn't suffer from PTSD, her response was " yes, you do. You just don't know it." I thought then taht she was full of beans. Still do. But that eventually became the attitude of almost all shrinks toward Vietnam vets. Part of the victimization process.

A lot of us refuse to be victims.