1971 Winter Soldier Under Oath

For what it is worth Campbell, Simpson, Olimpieri, Nienke and Bishop men who identify themselves as part of the 1st Marine Division while in Viet Nam and are part of the “winter soldier investigation” are for the most part lying.

I was with the 1st Marine Division 5th Marine Regiment Alpha Company and I can tell you that those Marines whom I served with, for the most part were honest and compassionate men of honor. Many times we went with out rations for days and would scavenge for food when it would have been very easy for to go into a village and take by force the food we would have liked to have had. On more than one occasion after taking sniper fire from a village we would do a search and destroy and even when confronted with overwhelming evidence of activity geared to harm us we would simply remove the objects such as land mines and booby traps and not retaliate against the villagers. Even back then we understood that most of them had no choice in matter had they resisted they would simply have been butchered by NVA or the RCA.

I am appalled that anyone would think/believe that an entire group (squad, platoon, company) of Marines would do what we have been accused of doing. While there may one or two along the way who have a certain blood lust there were more than enough honorable Marines who would have prevented them from fulfilling their desire while with the main body.

The Marine Corps heritage is a proud heritage and we knew even as young Marines there are certain things that you do not do and murder is one of them. Shooting a blooper gun (m-79) at a water buffalo is not the same as shooting at people. Until you put your sights on a living human being and know that when you pull the trigger they are going to die you have little understanding of the value of life or the consequences of taking it.

The only time I ever saw a village partially destroyed by American ordinance was on December 23, 1968. About 6 A.M. while walking into a village the enemy opened fire on us wounding a few (myself included). Since we were only platoon size our Lieutenant called for F-4 Phantoms in order to create a wall of defense so we could extract our wounded by helicopter. The Navy came to our rescue and hit the outskirts of the village with napalm it was not pretty but necessary to get our wounded out.

I am sure similar incidents occurred in that someone could say they saw civilians killed. How would you have handled the same situation?


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So, do you think My Lai was a lie?

Orders from Above?
Calley, an unemployed college dropout, had managed to graduate from Officer's Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1967. At his trial, Calley testified that he was ordered by Captain Ernest Medina to kill everyone in the village of My Lai. Still, there was only enough photographic and recorded evidence to convict Calley, alone, of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1974, following many appeals. After being issued a dishonorable discharge, Calley entered the insurance business.