Vietnam massacre soldier 'sorry'

He was initially sentenced to life in prison. Two days later, however, President Nixon made the controversial decision to have Calley released from prison, pending appeal of his sentence. Calley's sentence was later adjusted, so that he would eventually serve four and one-half months in a military prison at Fort Benning.

Most of the enlisted men who were involved in the events at My Lai had already left military service, and were thus legally exempt from prosecution. In the end, of the 26 men initially charged, Calley's was the only conviction.

Some have argued that the outcome of the My Lai courts-martial was a reversal of the laws of war that were set forth in the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals. Secretary of the Army Howard Callaway was quoted in the New York Times as stating that Calley's sentence was reduced because Calley honestly believed that what he did was a part of his orders — a rationale that stands in direct contradiction of the standards set at Nuremberg and Tokyo, where German and Japanese soldiers were executed for similar acts.

While Lt Calley was responsible for what happened with his platoon, there are others that walked free.  There were several Generals doing overwatch in helicopters and did nothing, but they chose to go after the lowest common denominator. 

The people giving the orders should have been nailed along with those following them.  Babel you also know that 2nd Lts, although platoon commanders, are really being mentored by their Platoon Sergeants.  

It is also no secret that the draft that existed then produced an undisciplined army.  Not having served under the conditions of Vietnam, I won't judge those that did.  It takes a toll when a rifle platoon is told to take a hill, lose some of its members, just to be told to step back to take it again on another day.

Rotations were done on an individual basis as opposed to units, so the espirit de corps was lacking. 

It doesn't make for a pretty picture when the first in country picture is body bags being loaded on the aircraft you arrive on. 

This was tragic and I in no way defend what he did but he was the only one convicted and that is a travesty of justice.

If this happened as presented in court his superiors and subornates also should have been convicted.

Abu Graib is another example of the lower ranks getting nailed and the officers getting off.  Where was the supervision there.  Did these troops not  have platoon, company commanders.   What about the Brigadier General that commanded the prison?  It seems to me the buck stops with the Commander on he ground.

You forget, Babel - they murdered innocent men, too.

Not just in the military, but it seems that everywhere I have worked, almost without exception, that same elite vs non-elite attitude prevails.

That is because narcissism is the most un-overcome aspect of human nature. 

I worked with a man who suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome from his Vietnam war experience. While drunk, he told me the story of finding and cooking some eggs with his friend. Hours later, his friend was dead of a wound to his abdomen, and my friend got to look at those eggs.

He had other tales, tales such as his friend being offered a drink in a village and the water being laced with cut glass.

Just last week, I went to meet my wife on a break at the place where she gets her nails done. The owner is a Vietnamese woman who was a refugee from Vietnam. She told me her story in difficult to understand English of her escape to Cambodia (still free at that point) and her eventual escape to the US.

When I was in Italy, the Italians on the left had trouble with the movie, "The Deer Hunter", for its graphic depiction of torture done by North Vietnamese regulars to American prisoners.

It is as if you can depend on two things in war, my guess, not having been in one, and those two things would be that there were atrocities on both sides and there were people, partisan to one side or the other, who couldn't believe that their side had done such things.

Maybe because as a kid growing up, my mother told me stories of atrocities on both sides in WWII in her town, I find it believable.

One of the best things about "Saving Private Ryan" was the honest depiction of out-of-control US soldiers killing Germans who had surrendered or, for me, the best one, the cry of  "let them burn" as the Germans came out, burning, from their bunkers.

If the same military standards, as exist nowadays,  applied to G.I.s in WWII, a substantial number of them would have been prosecuted and convicted of "war crimes". Things have changed during and since the Vietnam War and nowadays we fight wars in a more civilized and humanitarian manner, always aware of the political ramifications and the maintenance of our military careers and potential job offers once we leave the military.  i.e., we selectively kill as opposed to indiscriminately killing because we don't want to ruffle the media's and the politician's feathers and we want to keep our resumes squeaky clean . . . .

Good points, Rory. Easy to understand, "let them burn".